Description

PRESTON MAIN STREET
TA 13 SE
(east side)

1/17 Church of All Saints
16.12.66
I
Parish church. C13 north arcade, C14 south arcade; C15 north aisle, north
chapel and tower; C15 - early C16 south aisle and clerestory. Restorations
of c1800, south door rebuilt 1828, chancel restored 1879; restorations of
1880-82 included re-roofing; further restorations of c1900, to roof in 1964
and tower in 1982. Limestone ashlar to tower and north aisle, quarry-faced
ashlar to chancel; reused ashlar, rubble and cobbles to south aisle and
clerestory; nave east gable rendered. Slate roof to chancel, lead roofs to
remainder. West tower with west door, 4-bay aisled nave with north and
south doors, 2-bay chancel with north chapel, now organ chamber/vestry. 4-
stage tower: moulded plinth, angle buttresses with offsets and crocketed
ogee gablets, continued as diagonal buttresses to upper section of belfry;
moulded string courses between stages. First stage: pointed moulded door
with crocketed ogee hoodmould with head stops and pair of blank shields in
relief above. Second stage: trefoiled ogee niches to buttresses with
brattished corbels and octapartite ribbed canopies with crocketed ogee
hoods; pointed 4-light west window with Perpendicular tracery, moulded
transom, and ogee hoodmould, continued as string course, supporting a niche
containing a worn seated figure holding a shield, the niche with carved
paterae to the corbel, sexpartite ribbed canopy, moulded arch with carved
spandrels, moulded string course and tall crocketed pinnacle. Third stage:
ogee-headed slit lights to north and south, clock faces to each side.
Fourth stage: twin pointed 3-light Perpendicular-traceried belfry openings
with continuous hoodmoulds and central shaft rising between windows to
moulded string course. Gargoyles to angles (apart from south-west), coped
parapet with chamfered round-headed openings, 8 crocketed pinnacles (that to
south-west restored) with ogee gablets to the shafts. South aisle: partly-
restored moulded plinth, angle buttresses and buttresses between bays with
offsets; partly-restored pointed door of 2 orders with hollow chamfers and
wave mouldings, small niche above of reset stones with worn finial in
relief, shield panel to right; three 4-centred-arched 3-light windows with
trefoiled lights and incised spandrels, similar east window, triangular-
headed 3-light Perpendicular-traceried west window; moulded string course,
coped embattled parapet. South wall incorporates reused masonry, including
sections of keeled shaft to first bay, and of moulded arch to second bay.
North aisle and north chapel: partly-restored moulded plinth, angle
buttresses and buttresses between bays with offsets, moulded sill string
course; pointed door of 2 filleted orders with flanking buttress shafts
supporting hoodmould; pair of square-headed 2-light windows with trefoiled
ogee lights, single similar C19 - C20 three-light window; similar original
3-light west window. Chapel section to east has partly-restored 4-centred-
arched traceried north and east windows, small Tudor-arched chamfered north
door. Restored string course and coped embattled parapet, rainwater heads
dated 1882. Nave clerestory: 4-centred-arched three-light windows with
trefoiled lights and incised spandrels; embattled parapet with pierced
merlons and continuous ridge coping; restored coped east gable. Chancel:
south side has chamfered round-headed door, single lancet, pair of C19
trefoiled lancets and restored Cl5-C16 square-headed 2-light window with
trefoiled lights and incised spandrels; C14-C15 pointed 5-light transomed
east window with Perpendicular tracery and restored mullions, flanked by C19
pointed chamfered niches; coped gable with cross finial. Interior. North
arcade of pointed double-chamfered arches on octagonal piers and responds
with plain moulded capitals, water-holding bases and square pedestals.
South arcade of pointed double-chamfered arches with inner plain and outer
hollow chamfers on short quatrefoil piers with hollow chamfers between the
foils, plain moulded capitals and tall plain stepped bases. Tall double
hollow-chamfered tower arch with continuous outer chamfer and inner chamfered
responds with moulded bases and capitals, the latter bearing rustic-foliate
relief carving. Pointed double-chamfered chancel arch on responds, with
restored moulded capitals and plain moulded bases, restored hoodmould with
original head stop to south. Chancel has 2-bay north arcade of pointed
double-chamfered arches on an octagonal pier with plain moulded capital and
base, and corbelled responds with worn rustic carvings of angels holding
shields. Monuments. Series of floorslabs in north aisle, mostly C18 -
early C19, including black marble slab to Dame Eleanora Oxenden of 1728 with
roundel containing relief carving of hatchment and crest supported by
fronds, and another to Raphe Johnson (d1590) and wife Alice (d1610) with
marginal inscription and later inscriptions to Burnsall Family. Wall
tablets in north aisle: to John Beatson of 1798 with scrolled base and urn;
oval tablet to Joseph Whisker of 1819 with inscribed verse and gilded winged
angel above; oval tablets to David Burnsall of 1793 and to Robert Young of
1795; to John Ford Acey of 1857 with draped urn, by W D Keyworth of Hull; to
Mary Flint Heslewood of 1858 with relief of kneeling mourner, also by
Keyworth. In chancel: black marble floorslab to Thomas Helme, Proctor, of
1718 recording bequests; wall tablet to John Stephenson of 1802 with grey
marble obelisk; plain tablet to Rev John Dixon of 1828. C15 octagonal font
with bold foliate carvings to underside, octagonal shaft and base. Original
heavy oak south door, now stored in vestry, has moulded ribs, ogee-headed
wicket, wrought-iron strap hinges and box locks. Display case in south
aisle contains slightly worn fragments of fine C15 Nottingham alabaster
relief carvings, probably originally part of an easter sepulchre or altar-
piece, with figures of soldiers, worshippers etc, discovered during the 1880
restorations buried near the pulpit. N Pevsner, The Buildings of England:
Yorkshire, East Riding, 1978, p 327. Victoria County History: York, East
Riding, vol 5, 1984, pp 199-200.

Listing NGR: TA1871330602

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17533780

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Huddersfield in 50 Buildings
• 
  Oxfordshire: North and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Worcestershire Revised Edition (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  The Listed Buildings and Other Principal Structures at the Royal Gunpowder Mills Waltham Abbey
• 
  Staffordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Gwent/Monmouthshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Wales)