All Saints Church, Conington

All Saints Church, Conington
All Saints Church, Conington, from the southeast
All Saints Church, Conington Location in Cambridgeshire
Coordinates: 52°27′30″N 0°15′51″W / 52.4583°N 0.2642°W / 52.4583; -0.2642
OS grid reference	TL 179 858
Location	Conington, Cambridgeshire
Country	England
Denomination	Anglican
Website	Churches Conservation Trust
Architecture
Functional status	Redundant
Heritage designation	Grade I
Designated	28 January 1958
Architectural type	Church
Style	Gothic
Specifications
Materials	Limestone and fieldstone

All Saints Church, Conington, is a redundant Anglican church in the village of Conington in the Huntingdonshire district of Cambridgeshire, England. It has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade I listed building,^[1] and is under the care of the Churches Conservation Trust.^[2] The church stands to the east of the village, between the A1 road and the East Coast Main Line.^[2][3]

History

A church was mentioned in the Domesday Survey.^[4] It was rebuilt in about 1500. The embattled parapets were restored in 1638 by Sir Thomas Cotton. In 1841 the church was restored and the pews were replaced. A new east window was added in 1852. The tower was strengthened in 1862, and further repairs were undertaken between 1897 and 1899.^[4]

Architecture

Exterior

All Saints is constructed in limestone rubble and fieldstone, with limestone dressings.^[1] Its plan consists of a four-bay nave with a clerestory, north and south aisles with chapels at their east ends, a chancel, north and south porches, and a west tower.^[1][4] At the east end of the south aisle is a chapel. The tower is in four stages on a plinth decorated with quatrefoil ornament. At the corners are half-octagonal turrets rising to crocketted pinnacles. The parapet is battlemented with a quatrefoil frieze and gargoyles at the centre of each side. In the bottom stage is a west arched doorway, above which is five-light window. The bell openings in the top stage have four lights. The clerestory has three three-light windows and one five-light window on each side. Along the side of the south aisle are three four-light windows. The south chapel has a four-light south window, and a five-light east window. Between the aisle and the chapel is a rood turret with a polygonal roof and a foliated finial. The south porch is shallow and gabled with a tiled roof. The chancel has three-light windows in the north and south walls and a restored east window.^[1]

Interior

Inside the church are four-bay arcades, the westernmost bays being wider than the others. In the south wall of the chancel is a three-seat sedilia and a piscina. The limestone octagonal font dates from the 15th century, and stands on a 19th-century base. In the church are monuments to the Cotton and Heathcote families.^[1] Most of the furnishings date from 1841.^[2] The organ was built by Miller and Son of Cambridge.^[5] The ring consists of six bells, all cast by Thomas Mears II of the Whitechapel Bell Foundry, five of them in 1827, and the sixth in 1834.^[6]

See also

• List of churches preserved by the Churches Conservation Trust in the East of England

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e} "Church of All Saints, Conington", The National Heritage List for England (English Heritage), 2011, http://list.english-heritage.org.uk/resultsingle.aspx?uid=1162630, retrieved 12 May 2011 
2. ^ ^{a b c} All Saints' Church, Conington, Cambridgeshire, Churches Conservation Trust, http://www.visitchurches.org.uk/Ourchurches/Completelistofchurches/All-Saints-Church-Conington-Cambridgeshire/, retrieved 25 March 2011 
3. ^ Conington, Streetmap, http://streetmap.co.uk/grid/517927_285941_120, retrieved 7 March 2011 
4. ^ ^{a b c} Conington: Church History, GENUKI, http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/HUN/Conington/index.html#Church%20History, retrieved 7 March 2011 
5. ^ Huntingdonshire (Cambridgeshire), Conington Nr. Sawtry, All Saints (N03110), British Institute of Organ Studies, http://www.npor.org.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi?Fn=Rsearch&rec_index=N03110, retrieved 7 March 2011 
6. ^ Conington All Saints, Dove's Guide for Church Bell Ringers, http://dove.cccbr.org.uk/detail.php?searchString=conington&Submit=+Go+&DoveID=CONINGTONA, retrieved 7 March 2011