All Saints Church is a redundant

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

church in the village of Beeby,

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...

, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building, and is under the care of the Churches Conservation Trust.

History

Most of the church dates from the early 14th century. In the 15th century the tower was added. The chancel was rebuilt in 1819, and the south porch was added in the 19th century.

Architecture

Exterior

The body of the church and the tower are constructed in orange ironstone with white

ashlar Ashlar () is finely dressed (cut, worked) stone, either an individual stone that has been worked until squared, or a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, generally rectangular cuboid, mentioned by Vitruv ...

dressings, the chancel is in brick with red sandstone dressings, and the south porch is in granite and timber. Its plan consists of a nave with a

clerestory In architecture, a clerestory ( ; , also clearstory, clearstorey, or overstorey) is a high section of wall that contains windows above eye level. Its purpose is to admit light, fresh air, or both. Historically, ''clerestory'' denoted an upper l ...

and north and south aisles, a chancel, and a west tower. The tower is in three stages with angle buttresses. In the lowest stage is a west door over which is a two-light window. The middle stage has a clock face on the west side. On each side of the top stage is a three-light bell opening. At the top of the tower is a frieze decorated with quatrefoils, and an

embattled A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (i.e., a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at interva ...

parapet with gargoyles. On the summit of the tower is a truncated spire. On the south side of the church is the porch and two windows. Along the clerestory on both sides are windows in pairs. On the east gable of the chancel is a stone with the date 1819. The north wall contains a doorway and two three-light windows with Decorated tracery. Both outside and inside the church are large

corbel In architecture, a corbel is a structural piece of stone, wood or metal jutting from a wall to carry a superincumbent weight, a type of bracket. A corbel is a solid piece of material in the wall, whereas a console is a piece applied to the s ...

s carved with a variety of images, including a serpent, a skull, the Crucifixion, and saints.

Interior

The arcade is in three

bays A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a gulf, sea, sound, or bight. A cove is a small, circular bay with a narr ...

carried on octagonal

piers Piers may refer to: * Pier, a raised structure over a body of water * Pier (architecture), an architectural support * Piers (name), a given name and surname (including lists of people with the name) * Piers baronets, two titles, in the baronetages ...

. Three steps lead up from the nave to the chancel. To the north of the chancel arch is a door that formerly led to the rood loft. The chancel screen dates mainly from the medieval period, and there is also some medieval material in the south aisle screen. The

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, access ...

is in stone and marble and dates from about 1860. Over the tower arch are

Royal arms The royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom, or the royal arms for short, is the arms of dominion of the British monarch, currently King Charles III. These arms are used by the King in his official capacity as monarch of the United Kingdom. Varian ...

, and in the south aisle is a

Commandments Commandment may refer to: * The Ten Commandments * One of the 613 mitzvot of Judaism * The Great Commandment * The New Commandment The New Commandment is a term used in Christianity to describe Jesus's commandment to "love one another" which, ac ...

board. The

font In metal typesetting, a font is a particular size, weight and style of a typeface. Each font is a matched set of type, with a piece (a "sort") for each glyph. A typeface consists of a range of such fonts that shared an overall design. In mod ...

dates probably from the 13th century. It consists of a small basin carried on four round shafts. The basin is in the form of a slightly curved square, and contains a floral carving in each panel. Also in the church are late 18th-century box pews. The single-

manual Manual may refer to: Instructions * User guide * Owner's manual * Instruction manual (gaming) * Online help Other uses * Manual (music), a keyboard, as for an organ * Manual (band) * Manual transmission * Manual, a bicycle technique similar to ...

organ was built in about 1925 by J. Porritt. There is a ring of three bells. One of these was cast in about 1400 by Johannes de Stafford, the other two are undated and the founders are not known.

References

External links