All Saints' Church is a church in Tinwell,

Rutland Rutland is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Leicestershire to the north and west, Lincolnshire to the north-east, and Northamptonshire to the south-west. Oakham is the largest town and county town. Rutland has a ...

, England. It is a

Grade II* 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, H ...

listed building.

History

The church dates from the 13th century but the windows date from the 15th century. The church is made up of a

vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government of a parish in England, Wales and some English colony, English colonies. At their height, the vestries were the only form of local government in many places and spen ...

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' ...

, tower, north porch,

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

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 ...

. Archived page is 2015 visit, live page is 2022 visit. The church has an unusual

saddleback roof A saddleback roof is usually on a tower, with a ridge and two sloping sides, producing a gable at each end. See also * List of roof shapes Roof shapes encompass a broad range of designs, including flat (or shed roof, shed), gabled, hip roof, h ...

. The church was restored in the 19th century. The chancel contains the grave of Elizabeth Cecil who married Hugh Alington of Tinwell, and was the sister of

William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley (13 September 15204 August 1598), was an English statesman, the chief adviser of Elizabeth I, Queen Elizabeth I for most of her reign, twice Secretary of State (England), Secretary of State (1550–1553 and ...

. On 8 July 1944, two C47 aircraft collided after taking off from nearby

RAF Spanhoe Royal Air Force Spanhoe or more simply RAF Spanhoe (also known as Harringworth or Wakerley) is a former Royal Air Force station near Uppingham in Northamptonshire, England. The airfield is located approximately east of Uppingham; about north ...

, killing 34 crew members and Polish paratroops of the

Polish 1st Independent Parachute Brigade The 1st (Polish) Independent Parachute Brigade was a parachute infantry brigade of the Polish Armed Forces in the West under the command of Major General Stanisław Sosabowski, created in September 1941 during the Second World War and based in ...

; they are commemorated in the church. In 2023, the church congregation returned a crucifix to the village of Doingt in northern France. The vicar in the 1930s, Percy Hooson, in the First World War had picked up the cross from the ruins of the church at Doingt following the

Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme (; ), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and the French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place between 1 July and 18 Nove ...

. A local 16-year-old, on discovering its history, had suggested it should be returned to the rebuilt church at Doingt.

References

{{coord, 52.64576, -0.51441, format=dms, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Tinwell Tinwell