All Saints' Church, Hawton, is a

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), 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 com ...

in the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

Hawton Hawton is a hamlet and civil parish in the Newark and Sherwood district of Nottinghamshire, England. It lies two miles (3.2 km) south of the town of Newark-on-Trent, near the River Devon, a tributary of the River Trent. Its population wa ...

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...

. The church is

Grade I listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

by the

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) is a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It holds the responsibility for culture and sport, and some aspects of the media throughout the UK, such as broadcasting. I ...

as a building of outstanding architectural or historic interest.

History

The church is medieval and the

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

is described by

Nikolaus Pevsner Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, ''The Buildings of England'' (195 ...

as "one of the most exciting pieces of architecture in the country." On the north side of the chancel is a medieval Easter Sepulchre. Opposite on the south side is the

sedilia In church architecture, sedilia (plural of Latin ''sedīle'', "seat") are seats, typically made of stone, located on the liturgical south side of the altar—often within the chancel—intended for use by the officiating priest, deacon, an ...

. The carvings on these two features are considered amongst the best in England. The carvings in the chancel are thought to be the work of stonemasons who worked on the choir screen and Chapter House in

Southwell Minster Southwell Minster_(church), Minster, strictly since 1884 Southwell Cathedral, and formally the Cathedral and Parish Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is a Church of England cathedral in Southwell, Nottinghamshire, England. The cathedral is the s ...

Easter Sepulchre

Most famous is the Easter Sepulchre, which would have been used to reserve the consecrated bread and wine between

Maundy Thursday Maundy Thursday, also referred to as Holy Thursday, or Thursday of the Lord's Supper, among other names,The day is also known as Great and Holy Thursday, Holy and Great Thursday, Covenant Thursday, Sheer Thursday, and Thursday of Mysteries. is ...

and

Easter Day Easter, also called Pascha (Aramaic: פַּסְחָא , ''paskha''; Greek: πάσχα, ''páskha'') or Resurrection Sunday, is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in the N ...

, during which period there would have been no celebration of

Holy Communion The Eucharist ( ; from , ), also called Holy Communion, the Blessed Sacrament or the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite, considered a sacrament in most churches and an ordinance in others. Christians believe that the rite was instituted by J ...

, and the consecrated elements would have been reserved in the Sepulchre. The carvings depict at the base the sleeping

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

soldiers guarding the tomb of

Christ Jesus ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Christianity, central figure of Christianity, the M ...

, at the top are the apostles gazing heavenward at his ascending feet. In between is the risen

, the graveclothes draped over his shoulder. The glorious stonemasonry suffered at the hands of

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English statesman, politician and soldier, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in British history. He came to prominence during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, initially ...

's men.

Sedilia

On the south wall of the chancel is the finely carved

, stone seating originally provided for officiating clergy. At the very top are six saints standing on little men and animals, and crowned with angels. Lower are four female figures, then St

Edward the Martyr Edward the Martyr ( – 18 March 978) was King of the English from 8 July 975 until he was killed in 978. He was the eldest son of King Edgar (r. 959–975). On Edgar's death, the succession to the throne was contested between Edward's sup ...

, with a bishop on either side, and above on the left is

St Peter Saint Peter (born Shimon Bar Yonah; 1 BC – AD 64/68), also known as Peter the Apostle, Simon Peter, Simeon, Simon, or Cephas, was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus and one of the first leaders of the early Christian Church. He appears repe ...

and on the right

St Nicholas Saint Nicholas of Myra (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greeks, Greek descent from the maritime city of Patara (Lycia), Patara in Anatolia (in modern-day Antalya ...

. Further down still are two men on all fours gathering grapes among the foliage, and a pelican in her nest.Revd. John Quarrel, ''The Story of Hawton Church'', 66 pp., Newark & Sherwood District Council, 1994.

Memorial

*Sir Robert de Compton, died 1330

United benefice

All Saints' Church, Hawton, belongs to the United Benefice of Farndon with Thorpe and Hawton with Cotham, along with St. Lawrence's Church, Thorpe, St. Peter's Church, Farndon and St. Michael's Church, Cotham.

References