All Saints

A church has stood on this site for about 1000 years. The present building was constructed in the early 13th century. It is interesting to reflect on the huge size of the church, built in what must have been little more than a large village, then clustered around a bridge over the river, an important crossing place on routes running east to west.

Ancient tradition has it that St Hugh of Lincoln visited this area on one of his many tours around his diocese and ordered this church to be built to replace the building already on this site. He is depicted in the great west window with his legendary pet swan.

You cannot miss the 190 ft spire directing our eyes to heaven. The great west door has hinges by Thomas of Leighton, a famous 13th century ironsmith who made the iron grill on the tomb of Queen Eleanor of Castile in Westminster Abbey. There are numerous 15th century gargoyles and a number of sundials.

Inside are magnificent roofs with their decorated angels and saints. These were added in the 15th century at the expense of Alice de la Pole, Duchess of Suffolk and grand daughter of Geoffrey Chaucer. The roofs are very similar to those in East Anglia.

The font predates the current church and is from an earlier church which probably stood on this site. The metal plug is dated 1630.

We are fortunate to have so many Kempe windows in one building. They date from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. There are 12 at lower levels and 16 in the clerestory. CE Kempe was a well known designer of stained glass, and other items, at the forefront of the Anglo Catholic revival at the time. He worked closely with GF Bodley, an architect of high renown. Kempe died in 1907 and his workshops no longer exist.

The 13th century eagle lectern is a particular treasure because of its age and rarity. The late 14th century  misericords in the chancel are monastic seats which tip have carved figures and faces under and around them.

The Bodley Reredos at the High Altar was designed by Bodley and made by the Leighton Handicraft Class for Cripples in the early 20th century. The angels on the arms of the triptych are of embossed leather, painted and gilded. The central figures of Christ crucified and the Virgin Mary and St John are of carved alabaster and made in Lichfield by a Mr Bridgeman.

The pulpit in the nave is of American cedar, given in 1638 by Edward Wilkes, a local benefactor. The Wilkes family also provided alms houses in North Street.

The Simon and Nellie graffiti on the wall of the south transept is said to explain the origin of the Simnel Cake. The story has it that Simon and Nellie were expecting their children home for Mothering Sunday. They had little in their larder to eat except a piece of left over Christmas pudding mixture, over which they argued as to how to cook it. Boil or bake? The carving shows them about to come to blows. But they made peace and compromised, boiling and then baking the mix. This it is claimed is the origin of the Simnel cake. There are many other examples of medieval graffiti on the piers of the tower and in the nave. There are birds, windows, heads, shields, strange beasts, geometric designs etc.

After a serious fire in 1985 a vast restoration took place. This involved redecoration and refurbishment of carved angels and so on, new vestries, a small chapel dedicated to St Hugh created from an old priests vestry upstairs, a meeting room named  the Good Samaritan Room from the large window depicting the story, which fills one wall, a parish office, a choir vestry/office, a new Harrison organ, new bells to replace those destroyed by fire, a new altar under the tower made from local Totternhoe stone, and a popular coffee shop which is open to the public on three days a week.