We use cookies to improve your experience, some are essential for the operation of this site.

All Hallows, Seaton, Rutland

Location
(52°34′28″N, 0°40′1″W)
Seaton
SP 90421 98250
pre-1974 traditional (England and Wales) Rutland
now Rutland
  • Thomas E. Russo
  • Thomas E. Russo
26 May 2016

Please use this link to cite this page - https://www.crsbi.ac.uk/view-item?i=112306.

Find out how to cite the CRSBI website here.

Description

Upon approaching the bucolic village of Seaton, situated in the rolling Welland river valley, one is first greeted by the elegant broach spire of All Hallows church. One of the longest churches in the county, All Hallows consists of a W tower, nave with N and S aisles, S porch and a chancel. Originally, a small church with an aisleless nave, in the late 12thc. the N aisle with a two-bay arcade was added. Then in the 13thc., the S aisle was added with its three-bay arcade and the N arcade was extended one bay to the W; the chancel and the W tower also date to this time. In the 14thc., the S porch was added and in a 1660 restoration, which lowered the pitch of the roof, the clerestory was built. A major restoration in 1874-75 was undertaken by N. M. Fawcett of Cambridge. The S doorway, the responds of the chancel arch and the N arcade of the nave are of the Romanesque period.

History

In the Domesday Survey, Seaton is recorded in 1086 as a settlement with land belonging to King William, Robert of Tosny and Countess Judith. Though no church is specifically cited, in the entry relating to the land owned by Robert of Tosny, a priest is mentioned. In the 12thc., the manor of Up Hall in Seaton belonged to a Ralf de Beaufoy whose daughter, Agnes, married Hubert de Rye. When Ralf de Beaufoy died in 1184, Hubert granted the land and the advowson of the church of Seaton to Thomas, the son of Ralf de Beaufoy. The advowson remained with the lords of Up Hall until 1816.

Features

Exterior Features

Doorways

Interior Features

Arches

Chancel arch/Apse arches

Arcades

Nave
Comments/Opinions

The earliest parts of the church are S doorway and the chancel arch responds; their capitals, with such variety of design elements, suggest a date c.1100-1150 when the church had an aisled nave. The waterleaf capitals of the N arcade suggest a date of around 1180. The 12thc. S doorway was moved to its present location when the S aisle was added in the 13thc. expansion of the church. As with the 19thc. work on the chancel arch responds, it is likely that the renewed capital and impost of the E respond in the N arcade are from the 1875 renovation. Both pier 2 and bay 3 of the N arcade were inserted during the 13thc. expansion of the church; though bay 3 was added at this time, the builders moved the W respond of the original two-bay N arcade and reused it in the new three-bay design. Pier 2 and the bay 3 arch are of the same design as found on the piers and arches of the 13thc. S arcade.

Bibliography

F. Arnold-Forster, Studies in Church Dedications: or, England's Patron Saints, London: Skeffington & Son, 1899, vol. III, 249.

  1. G. Dickinson, Rutland Churches before the Restoration, London: Barrowden Books, 1983, 96-97.

Domesday Book: Rutland, ed. Frank Thorn. Chichester: Phillimore, 1980: EN 2; 11; 20.

Historic England Listed Building 1237085 (English Heritage Legacy No: 428249).

N. Pevsner, The Buildings of England: Leicestershire and Rutland. London: Penguin, 1960 (1998), 505-506.

Victoria County History: Rutland I, 1935, 140-142.

Victoria County History: Rutland II, 1935, 213-221.