The ancient parts of Langport [probably the etymology of its name is ‘long (market) town’] surround All Saints church on an originally fortified hilltop, stretch W below the hill along a causeway leading to the crossing of the major Somerset river, the Parrett. From late Saxon times the river was a major communication link enabling Langport to be a very important trading hub. It is still noticeably commercial although no longer holding the importance it had before the growth of other Somerset towns based on road and rail developments. Nowadays the principal communications are along the road more or less keeping to the high ground afforded by the Blue Lias ridge and running from Taunton in the W to Somerton and that road’s offshoot E of Langport running along the foot of the S scarp of the Blue Lias ridge and leading to the A303 London road.
To simplify geology and topography, at Langport the River Parrett cuts through the well-known WSW/ENE outcrop of the Limestone variety known as Blue Lias. The current geological description of the surface geology of the hill on which All Saints church perches categorises the stone as belonging to the Triassic type: ‘Westbury Formation & Cotham Member Mudstone & Limestone’. The church itself rests on ‘Langport Member, Blue Lias Formation & Charmouth Mudstone’.
Although the church mainly dates from the 15thc and 16thc, it houses a resited Romanesque lintel.