The Church of All Saints is the Anglican

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

for the village of Willian in Hertfordshire. The benefice is united with St Paul's church in nearby

Letchworth Letchworth Garden City, commonly known as Letchworth, is a town in the North Hertfordshire district of Hertfordshire, England. It is noted for being the first garden city. The population at the time of the 2011 census was 33,249. Letchworth ...

,All Saints church on the Letchworth Garden City Heritage Foundation website
/ref> although each church has its own parish. It is in the

Diocese of St Albans The Diocese of St Albans forms part of the Province of Canterbury in England and is part of the wider Church of England, in turn part of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The diocese is home to more than 1.6 million people and comprises the hi ...

. The church has been a Grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

since 1954.All Saints Church, Willian on the English Heritage Listed Buildings database
/ref>

The exterior

All Saints' dates back to at least Norman times and consists of a

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

with two bays and a

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ov ...

dating to the 12th and 13th centuries, respectively. The tower and south porch are 15th century. The tower is of three stages with a stair turret and

battlement 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 interv ...

ed parapet and has eight

gargoyle In architecture, and specifically Gothic architecture, a gargoyle () is a carved or formed grotesque with a spout designed to convey water from a roof and away from the side of a building, thereby preventing it from running down masonry walls ...

s. The thin red tiles visible on the south side of the tower are thought to mark the day by day progress of the workmen. Major renovation of the tower was carried out in 1996 when seven of the eight

s were replaced with replicas carved by Rattee and Kett. These represent opposites: Life and Death; Saint and the Devil: King and Queen, and a Lion and a Man. The clock was installed to commemorate the Diamond Jubilee of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...

in 1897; it was restored in 1991. The

buttress A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient buildings, as a means of providing support to act against the lateral ( ...

es supporting the

date to the 15th-century, while those supporting the

are 19th-century.Harkness, Peter ''All Saints...and Sinners: The Story of a Village Church'', Privately Published (1999) pg 5 The roof is of Welsh slate with coped gables, while the structure is built of flint and ironstone rubble walls with ashlar dressed stone and buttresses. The 14th and 15th century

fenestration Fenestration may refer to: * Fenestration (architecture), the design, construction, or presence of openings in a building * Used in relation to fenestra in anatomy, medicine and biology * Fenestration, holes in the rudder A rudder is a primar ...

is in the

Perpendicular style Perpendicular Gothic (also Perpendicular, Rectilinear, or Third Pointed) architecture was the third and final style of English Gothic architecture developed in the Kingdom of England during the Late Middle Ages, typified by large windows, four-ce ...

Inside the church

The church's interior has a 19th-century timber

barrel roof A barrel roof is a curved roof that, especially from below, is curved like a cut-away barrel. They have some advantages over dome roofs, especially being able to cover rectangular buildings, due to their uniform cross-section. Barrel vault ...

above both the nave and chancel, while the latter still has its original corbel masks and carved seats. The nave is high and light owing to work done in 1866-70 when the window opposite the porch was added and the roof raised. The two windows facing each other date to about 1430 although the stained glass in them is from 1918. The walls are from about 1100 to 1150. The free-standing communion table has a prominent position and behind it is a carving of an elephant and castle on the president's chair, which was made in 1974 using medieval woodwork already existing in the church; on a side panel is the head of

John the Baptist John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿmḏānā; he, יוחנן המטביל, Yohanān HaMatbil; la, Ioannes Bapti ...

on a platter. Recent research suggests that these carvings were originally made in about 1475 for

St Andrew Andrew the Apostle ( grc-koi, Ἀνδρέᾱς, Andréās ; la, Andrēās ; , syc, ܐܰܢܕ݁ܪܶܐܘܳܣ, ʾAnd’reʾwās), also called Saint Andrew, was an apostle of Jesus according to the New Testament. He is the brother of Simon Pete ...

's church in

Biggleswade Biggleswade ( ) is a market town and civil parish in Central Bedfordshire in Bedfordshire, England. It lies on the River Ivel, 11 miles (18 km) south-east of Bedford. Its population was 16,551 in the 2011 United Kingdom census, and its e ...

and were brought to Willian in about 1830. There is a monumental brass to Richard Golden (died 1446), priest at Willian 1416–1466, while the walls are adorned with good quality monuments, those in the chancel being to Edward and Joan Lacon (died 1625 and 1624), John Chapman (died 1624) and Thomas Wilson (died 1656). The latter is a fine and rare example. These monuments were cleaned and some were repainted in 1974. The newer of the two

lectern A lectern is a reading desk with a slanted top, on which documents or books are placed as support for reading aloud, as in a scripture reading, lecture, or sermon. A lectern is usually attached to a stand or affixed to some other form of support. ...

s was given in memory of Samuel Valentine, who died in 1974; the older one was given in 1870 by

Thomas Legh Claughton Thomas Legh Claughton (6 November 1808 – 25 July 1892) was a British academic, poet, and clergyman. He was professor of poetry at Oxford University from 1852 to 1857; Bishop of Rochester; and the first Bishop of St Albans.Sutton, C. W. "Claugh ...

, the Bishop of Rochester in whose diocese Willian then lay. The original 15th-century rood screen has been removed. Above the tower arch are the Royal Arms which were probably placed there during the restoration of 1870. At the base of the tower the Ellacombe Chime bell-ringing apparatus on the wall enables one person to ring all six bells. The oldest bell in its original state is dated 1662. The organ was made by J. W. Walker & Sons Ltd in 1864, and was refurbished in 1986. The Victorian baptismal font is believed to be the fourth in the church. Its predecessor was taken to the Rectory where it was used as a plant container.

Notable burials

Buried in the churchyard is Annie Jane Lawrence, who built

The Cloisters The Cloisters, also known as the Met Cloisters, is a museum in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Upper Manhattan, New York City. The museum, situated in Fort Tryon Park, specializes in European medieval art and architecture, with a fo ...

in nearby

. Here too lies Bernard George Ellis GC, who was awarded the Albert Medal in 1919, translated to the George Cross in 1970. Also here are five graves maintained by the

Commonwealth War Graves Commission The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth of Nations m ...

- one from

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and four from

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

.All Saints, Willian on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website
/ref>

Gallery

File:Richard Golden brass Willian.JPG, Monumental brass to Richard Golden (died 1446) File:Elephant and Castle Willian 2017.jpg, Elephant and castle carving of about 1475 on a modern chair made using medieval woodwork

References

External links

All Saints Church, Willian on the Hertfordshire Directory websiteAll Saints Church, Willian on the Hertfordshire Churches in Photographs website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Willian, All Saints Church of England church buildings in Hertfordshire Churches in Hertfordshire 12th-century church buildings in England History of Hertfordshire Grade II* listed churches in Hertfordshire Letchworth