The church of ALL SAINTS is picturesquely situated in a deep wooded glen on the north bank of the River Leven, and consists of chancel 39 ft. 6 in. by 19 ft. 6 in. with north vestry and organ chamber, nave of four bays 61 ft. 9 in. by 20 ft., south aisle 12 ft. wide, and tower on the south side forming a porch 9 ft. 6 in. square, all these measurements being internal. The site is an ancient one, but no part of the existing structure appears to be older than the early part of the 14th century, to which period the chancel and the three eastern bays of the nave together with the south aisle belong, though altered and rebuilt in parts at a later time. The nave and aisle were extended westward and the tower added in the 15th century.
Of the earlier church on the site nothing can now be said, but in all probability the present structure is a rebuilding of a 12th-century church consisting of chancel and aisleless nave, the latter being about 45 ft. in length. In the 14th-century rebuilding, which may have been soon after 1300, the size of the nave was not altered, and some of the old masonry of the north wall and at the angles may have been retained, but the building was enlarged by the addition of a south aisle and a new and larger chancel was built probably round the old one. After the erection of the tower nothing seems to have been done to the fabric for about three hundred years, when some time in the 18th century new leaded roofs of flat pitch were erected to both chancel and nave entirely different in character from those previously existing. The north wall of the chancel appears to have been entirely rebuilt and the south wall heightened, and the nave and aisle were put under one wide roof of even span, their external distinction being thus lost. A great deal of reconstruction appears to have been done at this time, the whole of the aisle wall being either rebuilt or refaced, and a high wide gable with its apex no longer centrally placed in relation to the nave erected at the west end. The west window was thus thrown out of the centre of the elevation, producing a very lop-sided and unfortunate effect. External appearance, however, seems to have been of secondary importance to internal 'comfort,' a flat plaster ceiling being erected in the nave at the wallplate level cutting across the tops of both the west window and the chancel arch. In 1847 the roofs were renewed, slates being substituted for the lead covering, and in 1860 the ceiling was taken down and the roof opened out. About the same time the walls were scraped of the many coats of limewash with which they had long been covered, exposing fragments of wall paintings in the spandrels of the nave arcades. The church was restored in 1892, when the old box pews were removd and new seating inserted, the chancel furnished in oak, and the organ chamber added.
The chancel has a modern window of five cinquefoiled lights, a copy of one of early 14th-century date, and three two-light pointed windows with forked mullions on the south side. The north and east walls have been rebuilt, and the east gable is of flat pitch with plain coping. There are no buttresses to the walls, and the old masonry on the south side consists of squared blocks in courses with a high chamfered plinth. Externally the chancel preserves little or nothing of its original appearance, the height of the south wall above the windows together with the flat-pitched blue-slated roof and iron gutter making it entirely commonplace. There is a single modern lancet at the east end of the north wall, to the west of which are the vestry and organ chamber, the former with a gable and the latter with a lean-to roof. Internally the walls are plastered, and no ancient ritual arrangements remain. The tall pointed chancel arch is of two chamfered orders, 16 ft. 4 in. wide, without hood mould. The outer order is continued to the ground on either side below an impost, and the inner springs from moulded corbels at a height of 11 ft. from the ground. The roof is of four bays plastered between the rafters, and all the fittings are modern.
The 14th-century nave arcade consists of three pointed arches of two chamfered orders springing from clustered piers and similar responds, all with moulded capitals and bases. The piers are 27 in. in diameter with four circular shafts having fillets on the face. They are 7 ft. 11 in. in height to the top of the capitals, which are simply moulded and without carving or other ornament. The detail is all very good and is c. 1300–10. Between the original arcade and the later western arch is a masonry pier marking the extent of the original nave, and the arch itself is of two chamfered orders, the inner (which is narrower than those of the older arches) springing from moulded corbels and the outer going down to the ground. The pointed west window is original and of four lights with double chamfered jambs, embattled transom over the two middle lights, and perpendicular tracery, but without hood mould. In the north wall is a built-up doorway with shouldered arch, and a pointed window of two trefoiled lights and quatrefoil in the head near the east end. The wall, which is otherwise blank, and is almost entirely covered with ivy outside, has a moulded plinth, which seems to point to a rebuilding on this side when the nave was extended westward. At the west end there is a chamfered set back, or high plinth, below the window, and a diagonal buttress of three stages at the north-west angle. The aisle is lit by three modern three-light windows on the south side, all probably copies of older ones. Two of these, to the east of the tower, are square-headed with the mullions crossing in the head, the one to the west of the tower being of similar type but pointed. There is an old window of three trefoiled lights at the east end of the aisle with rounded head, but the west wall is blank. All the external masonry of the aisle is new, and the south wall finishes with a straight parapet. On the north side of the nave the roof overhangs. Internally the walls are plastered.
At the east end of the aisle in the usual position are the remains of a square-headed piscina with floreated bowl, the front part of which has been cut away, and between the first and second windows from the east a wide 14th-century recess under a richly moulded trefoiled arch set within a straight gable with foliated finial. The stonework is a good deal mutilated and is still covered with limewash. In the recess is a low altar tomb on which lies the effigy of an ecclesiastic in low relief, the hands holding a chalice; behind the head is conventional foliage in the form of a cross with oak leaves and acorns. The slab on which the figure lies has a line of flowing leaf ornament on the edge. In the north wall of the nave nearly opposite is a smaller trefoiled recess with simply moulded arch, but containing no figure
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The tower is of three stages with moulded plinth, embattled parapet, and diagonal buttresses of six stages at each angle going up the full height and terminating in angle pinnacles. The two lower stages facing east and west are blank, and there is a vice in the north-west corner. The south doorway has a low pointed arch of two chamfered orders the full width of the porch, the inner order dying into the wall and the outer continued down the jambs. In the wall above is a small square-headed barred opening. The middle stage on the south side has a small ogee-headed trefoiled window, and the belfry windows are square-headed and of two trefoiled lights with transom at mid-height. The porch has a pointed stone barrel vault carried by four chamfered ribs and a wall rib at each end. There is a stone seat on either side. The inner doorway has a pointed arch with hood mould terminating in heads.
The font is ancient and consists of a plain circular basin with short shaft and moulded base. Around the bottom of the plinth are four shields, two blank or indecipherable, one with the arms of Conyers, and the other charged with the cross of St. George.
On the north wall of the nave at the east end above the pulpit is a good 16th-century mural tablet with architectural framework and an inscription to Thomas Milner (d. 8 November 1594) setting out that Thomas Lindley married Margery second daughter of Sir Thomas Newport, and had issue Elizabeth wife of Joseph Sorthwaites, alias Milner, who had issue Thomas Milner, who married Frances daughter of William Baytes, who had issue Mary wife of Charles Layton, who had issue Sir Thomas Layton.
The pulpit, which is square on plan and stands on four legs, is of oak with inlaid marquetry panels and bears the name of Thomas Milner in the top panel together with a shield of arms below. It was formerly covered with several coats of paint, its architectural merit not being suspected till the paint was removed in 1860. It was apparently a gift or in memory of the Thomas Milner commemorated in the tablet.
Some of the oak seating of the nave is of 17thcentury date, perhaps cut down, with turned knobs to the pew ends, and the modern seating has been made to correspond. In the east window of the south aisle is a roundel of old heraldic glass with the arms of Conyers quartering Darcy and Meynell encircled by the garter.
The chancel contains several mural monuments to members of the Cary family.
There is a ring of three bells, originally rung from the porch. The oldest is inscribed 'Ave gratia plña Dominus, 3 Sep. 1664. Miserere mei . J.S.,' and another 'Gloria in altissimis Deo 1767.'
The plate consists of a silver cup of 1744 made by Richard Bayley of London, inscribed 'The gift of Elizabeth Brown late of Stockton to the Parish Church of Hutton Rudby 1745'; two plated cups; a plated salver; and a plated font-basin inscribed 'Presented to Rudby Church by J. M. Lennard Church Warden 1885'; a silver paten presented in 1890 by the Rev. John Johnson, vicar; a silver flagon presented in 1897 by Allan Bowes Wilson, lord of the manor of Hutton; a silver almsdish presented in 1897 by the Rev. James Alder Wilson, rector of Crathorne, the said Allan Bowes Wilson and Miss Annie Hutton Wilson. There are also a pewter font-basin and a brass plate.
The registers begin in 1584.
[From British History Online]
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