Building record CHW 002 - Church of All Saints

Church is within the diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich, the archdeaconry of Sudbury and the deanery of Lavenham. It has the status of a rectory (S1).
The structure is: chancel, nave, N aisle, S aisle, N porch, S porch, W tower (S2).
The chancel is Decorated in style and the E window is a three-light. Formerly there was a chapel to the north of the chancel; this has disappeared, but the corbels for the roof and the doorway still show. In September 1849 a Fresco painting of the Day of Judgement was discovered over the chancel arch and restored. The nave roof is of arch-braced cambered tie-beam construction. The font is a C14 Decorated stone octagon with crocketted and cusped pediments to each face of the bowl. The arcades are of 3 bays, each having tall piers with four attached shafts and moulded arches. The S aisle contains two early C14 windows and a former chapel, which was re-discovered in 1953. In the NE corner of the S aisle are the doors and stairway leading to the rood loft. C14 encaustic tiles line the floor of this stairway. The N aisle contains a very fine C14 canopied recess, said to be the tomb of Sir John de Philibert. It is in the Decorated style of the Royal Court prior to the introduction of ogee forms. The tomb itself has been removed. An external projection for the tomb shows ball-flower ornament. (Sir John de Philibert was lord of the manor in 1359). Near to the monument are two small piscinas. A lead panel in the N aisle roof carries the date 1747 and a corresponding one in the S aisle roof is inscribed 1838. Over the arches of the arcades, on both sides of the nave, are three clerestory windows. The W tower is Decorated and early C14; it takes the form of a square tower of flints with buttresses. The main entrance to the church is the N porch which is small and wooden. There is a S porch as well, which is made of stone. The S porch is Perpendicular: it has two niches which contain original statues and its windows retain fragments of foreign glass, one piece is dated 1637. The doors of the S porch are C15 traceried ones with a quatrefoil border; the inner door has a pointed canopy with crockets and a finial. The S porch was restored in 1966. In 1849 traces of paintings were found on all the walls of the church, as well as over the chancel arch (S2).
The church was restored in 1850 and 1868. During this second restoration a new E window was inserted, the chancel was floored with Minton encaustic tiles and a new pulpit and reading desk were provided (S2).