All Saints Church- Little Casterton
Little Casterton is a mainly c13 church. It has no tower but a typical Rutland bellcote with an Early English style to them. We can be sure that the first church here was Norman, however, for mounted on the north aisle wall is a Norman tympanum, presumably from the original south doorway. Pevsner puts the North arcade at about 1200 and its southern counterpart a few years later. Both have round arches so are in the Transitional rather than Early English style. The north arcade has hefty stiff leaf capitals more in the Romanesque style whereas the south arcade has roll moulded capitals that were, I suppose, felt to be in the more a la mode by the time it was built. The clerestory is c15 Perpendicular (I am tempted to add “of course!”). The roof with its pretty unpainted bosses date from this time too. Both chancel and north aisle were rebuilt in around 1810 by the delightfully-named Rev Richard Twopeny and his architect brother, William. The two westernmost lancet windows on each side are believed to be the original Early English ones. The east window may be the reused Early English ones from the c13 chancel. The piscina is a delightful little gem amongst an otherwise plain church architecturally.
Plain it may be, but there is much to enjoy here. There are some delightful roof bosses, some entertaining carved figures - including a mystery on the north wall (see below), coffin lids fragments of wall painting, as well as the tympanum and piscina. If you are in the area and want a change from the rather grand aisled and towered churches around Rutland then call in here (and nearby Essendine with its gorgeous Norman south doorway) for a total contrast and to celebrate the little joys that it has to offer.
There are several fragments of wall painting around the church although it must be said that it is not easy to discern what they are. Pevsner has a stab at identifying them but I don’t see too much point in describing what could only be seen with much bigger pictures. Note, however, the tall draped figure on the picture right which is probably a female Saint. Note also that the fact that some of the painting is within the recesses of Early English lancet windows points to the paintwork also being early c13. That’s rather older than the painted fragments in some other churches.
The North side of the church is a little neglected. The Church no longer thinks of the North sides of churches as being “The Devil’s Side” although it is plain that the habit of putting all the grotty bits of the church on that side still lingers on in many locations! This is where you will find the ghastly stone sheds that often pass for “vestries” and the gruesome boiler houses - amongst other monstrosities. To be fair, though, they are better placed here than on the south side where most churches now have their entrances.
The North side of Little Casterton, though, yields a little puzzle. In the extreme north west corner, under the roofline and laid on his side is this cheeky little figure! He’s all on his own. His feet are damaged, but a full length figure like this is not terribly common. When you look closely he has been sculpted inside a cornice so he looks designed to be located in an angle somewhere. He fits quite snugly here for all the world as if this has always been where he is - but why would there be only one carving and why would it be laid on its side? The North aisle was rebuilt in 1810 so it seems possible that he was moved here at that time, perhaps because he was seen as a bit of fun - but that doesn’t explain where he came from.