The Church of All Saints is the

Church of England parish church A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ...

for the village of

Netheravon Netheravon is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish on the River Avon (Hampshire), River Avon and A345 road, about north of the town of Amesbury in Wiltshire, South West England. It is within Salisbury Plain. The village is on ...

, Wiltshire, England. A church has stood on this site near the River Avon since

Saxon The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...

times. It has been designated a

Grade I listed building 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 ...

History

In late Saxon times, before the

Norman Conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, French people, French, Flemish people, Flemish, and Bretons, Breton troops, all led by the Du ...

, Netheravon was a large and prosperous village, and this is evident by the size of the remaining Saxon work in the present building. By the early 11th century, there was a

cruciform A cruciform is a physical manifestation resembling a common cross or Christian cross. These include architectural shapes, biology, art, and design. Cruciform architectural plan Christian churches are commonly described as having a cruciform ...

church on this site, comprising central tower,

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 ...

and small

apse In architecture, an apse (: apses; from Latin , 'arch, vault'; from Ancient Greek , , 'arch'; sometimes written apsis; : apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical Vault (architecture), vault or semi-dome, also known as an ' ...

. By the time of the Doomsday survey in 1086, the building was described as ruinous, but was rebuilt during early Norman times and much of that work is still evident today. The tower was raised in height upon the rebuilding of the church, but still utilising the earlier base. The nave and

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 ...

were rebuilt again in the 13th century, with some previous Norman work surviving, and the

aisle An aisle is a linear space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, in buildings such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, parliaments, courtrooms, ...

s rebuilt in the 15th century. Part of the roof was replaced in the early 17th century, and new

pinnacle A pinnacle is an architectural element originally forming the cap or crown of a buttress or small turret, but afterwards used on parapets at the corners of towers and in many other situations. The pinnacle looks like a small spire. It was main ...

s added to the tower in 1626, though these have since been removed. The church underwent a major restoration starting in 1888 by C. E. Ponting, which included plastering the walls, raising the level of the roof, extending the south aisle and replacing the 13th-century chancel arch. In the early 1980s, the tower was found to have a large crack, and £50,000 was spent on repairing and restoring it.

Architecture

For a relatively small village, the church is large and somewhat imposing. The principal feature of the church is the large West Tower, a largely Saxon structure. The tower is thus a rare example of a surviving pre-conquest building on a large scale. Opinions by architectural historians and experts vary on the age of the work in the tower, some placing the surviving work as early as the 9th century, others as 11th century. Most are in agreement the lower half of the present day tower formed the original central tower in the pre-conquest church. It was heightened in the 11th and 12th centuries. The tower interior features two large pre-conquest arches, one filled with an 11th-century door on the west side as the principal entrance to the church, and a larger high round arch on the east side, which joins the tower and nave.

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked with prot ...

have described the latter as "most impressive". The nave is 13th century, and built in a simple Early English style, with

lancet window A lancet window is a tall, narrow window with a sharp pointed arch at its top. This arch may or may not be a steep lancet arch (in which the compass centres for drawing the arch fall outside the opening). It acquired the "lancet" name from its rese ...

s and a small

clerestory A clerestory ( ; , also clearstory, clearstorey, or overstorey; from Old French ''cler estor'') is a high section of wall that contains windows above eye-level. Its purpose is to admit light, fresh air, or both. Historically, a ''clerestory' ...

. The nave roof is relatively high, and steeply pitched. The chancel is also 13th century, with simple lancet windows and a 3-light east window. The nave and chancel were previously linked by a 13th-century chancel arch, though this was demolished and rebuilt in the 1888 restoration in the

Romanesque Revival Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended t ...

style. There are two wall monuments in the chancel, one to Thomas Herne of

Bloomsbury Bloomsbury is a district in the West End of London, part of the London Borough of Camden in England. It is considered a fashionable residential area, and is the location of numerous cultural institution, cultural, intellectual, and educational ...

who died in 1799, and one to Daniel Herne who died 15 years later.

Bells

The tower contains a heavy peal of six bells, the largest bell (the tenor) weighing 19 and a half

hundredweight The hundredweight (abbreviation: cwt), formerly also known as the centum weight or quintal, is a British imperial and United States customary unit of weight or mass. Its value differs between the United States customary and British imperial sy ...

(991 kilograms) and tuned to E. There were three bells and a sanctus in 1553, with later recasts or additions in 1585 by John Wallis of

Salisbury bell foundry The Salisbury Bell Foundry at Salisbury, in Wiltshire, England, was operated from at least 1420 (but possibly as early as 1220) until 1731. The surnames of notable master bell-founders include Purdue and Wallis. History of the foundry Salisbu ...

and in 1695 by Samuel Knight, the latter of whom cast a peal of twelve for

Southwark Cathedral Southwark Cathedral ( ), formally the Cathedral and Collegiate Church of St Saviour and St Mary Overie, is a Church of England cathedral in Southwark, London, near the south bank of the River Thames and close to London Bridge. It is the mother c ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

some forty years later. There was also a treble by 1609, though the founder is not known. By the time of the 1911 restoration, there were five bells. In 1911, the bells underwent a major overhaul by

John Taylor & Co John Taylor Bell Foundry (Loughborough) Limited, trading as John Taylor & Co and commonly known as Taylor's Bell Foundry, Taylor's of Loughborough, or simply Taylor's, is the world's largest working bell (instrument), bell foundry. It is locat ...

Loughborough Loughborough ( ) is a market town in the Charnwood (borough), Charnwood Borough of Leicestershire, England; it is the administrative centre of Charnwood Borough Council. At the United Kingdom 2021 census, the town's built-up area had a popula ...

, Leicestershire. The work included recasting the 1609 treble and 1588 tenor, retuning the other bells, augmenting them to six with a new treble bell, and rehanging them all in a new

cast iron Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content of more than 2% and silicon content around 1–3%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloying elements determine the form in which its car ...

frame. The fifth bell was later replaced, either through recasting or casting a new bell, in 1945, also by John Taylor & Co. The present ring of six therefore includes four Taylor bells, three from 1911 and one from 1945, and two older bells, the aforementioned 1585 and 1695 bells by John Wallis and Samuel Knight, which today form the present 4th and 3rd bells respectively.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Netheravon, All Saints Church of England church buildings in Wiltshire Grade I listed churches in Wiltshire 11th-century church buildings in England