All Saints Church, East Horndon
Encyclopedia
All Saints Church, East Horndon, is a redundant
Anglican
church in the village of East Horndon
, Essex
, England. It has been designated by English Heritage
as a Grade II* listed building, and is under the care of the Churches Conservation Trust
. The church stands north of the village, and northwest of the junction between the A127
and A128 roads, some 4 miles (6 km) south of Brentwood
.
to return it to as near as possible to its original condition. However, it was allowed to deteriorate again. During the Second World War, a bomb exploded close to the church, destroying much of the stained glass and weakening its structure. After the war, a tramp
set the tower alight, and thieves stole items from the church, including its four bells. Then vandals caused more damage. The font
and the surviving monuments were removed to museums for safe keeping.
nave
with north and south two-storey transept
s, a chancel
with north and south chapels, a south porch, and a west tower. The tower is in two stages, with large corner buttress
es. The buttresses continue upwards and become turret
s at the corners. In the upper stage are round-headed bell openings. The parapet
is stepped. On top of the tower is a shingled
pyramidal roof, surmounted by a weather vane
. In the centre of the south side of the church is a gable
d transept. In its lower storey is a square-headed three-light window, above this is a small window with a brick surround, and in the gable is a sundial
. To the west of the transept is a porch, continuous with the transept, with a pilaster
buttress
at the junction. Above the entrance to the porch is an arched recess, and at its west corner is a diagonal buttress. Inside the porch is the original seating. The porch leads to the doorway into the church, which dates from about 1500. In the spandrel
s over the archway are carvings of a shield and a Tudor rose
. To the west of the porch is a tall window with a brick surround. To the east of the transept, protruding from the chancel is a two-bay chapel. This contains two square-headed windows, one with two lights, and one with three lights. On the corners are diagonal buttresses. On the north side of the church there is also a central transept. It has similar windows to those in the south transept, plus another square-framed window. To the east of this, in the north wall of the chancel, is a window with an arched head. There are no windows in the north chapel, but there are two large crosses on pedestal
s. The east window in the chancel has a three-light window with a stone surround, dating from the 19th century.
. Beside the south door is a damaged stoup
. The north transept contains a narrow brick staircase leading to the upper storey. The upper room of the transept is joined to the corresponding room in the south transept by a beam, the only remaining part of a rood
screen. The pulpit
dating from about 1700 was destroyed by vandals in 1971. In the chancel, a small chapel known as the Founder's Tomb projects from the north wall. A single fragment of medieval
stained glass is in one of the chancel windows. The 15th-century chancel roof was damaged during the Second World War, but the parts that have survived include bosses
carved with flowers, fruit, shields and angels. There is a two-bay arcade
between the chancel and the south chapel. This is known as the Tyrell Chapel and contains memorials to members of the Tyrell family. The oldest monument is to Lady Alice Tyrell who died in 1422. This had been moved to Layer Marney
in 1969 for safety, but was returned here in 1976. There are marble wall monuments to other members of the Tyrell family, with dates in the 17th and 18th centuries. Under the floor of the chapel is a small crypt, now sealed. In the south transept is an altar tomb dating from about 1520, and in the upper storey is a medieval fireplace and chimney. A staircase leads from the upper storey room down to the porch.
Many of the fittings have been stolen or moved elsewhere. A font dating from about 1200, formerly in the north transept, has been moved to Great Wakering
in Essex. An escutcheon formerly above the Founder's Tomb has been moved to Layer Marney church. A black marble
floor slab to the memory of Sir John Tyrell who died in 1675 is in Heron Hall. The most important monument was made by Joseph Nollekens
to Sir John Tyrell, 5th baronet, who died in 1766. This is now in the Victoria and Albert Museum
.
, the Ford Trust of Britain, and Essex County Council. The church was declared redundant on 13 November 1970, and it became vested
in the Redundant Churches Fund, the forerunners of the Churches Conservation Trust. The Trust has organised further repairs and restorations. An organisation known as the Friends of All Saints East Horndon arranges events in the church. The church is open on Saturdays during the summer months.
. It has been listed Grade II. Also listed Grade II and associated with the church is a small 17th-century timber-framed
stable.
Redundant church
A redundant church is a church building that is no longer required for regular public worship. The phrase is particularly used to refer to former Anglican buildings in the United Kingdom, but may refer to any disused church building around the world...
Anglican
Anglicanism
Anglicanism is a tradition within Christianity comprising churches with historical connections to the Church of England or similar beliefs, worship and church structures. The word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to at least 1246 that means the English...
church in the village of East Horndon
East Horndon
East Horndon is a village in the south of the Brentwood borough of Essex and in the East of England. It is situated just south of the A127 road near Herongate...
, Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
, England. It has been designated by English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
as a Grade II* listed building, and is under the care of the Churches Conservation Trust
Churches Conservation Trust
The Churches Conservation Trust, which was initially known as the Redundant Churches Fund, is a charity whose purpose is to protect historic churches at risk, those that have been made redundant by the Church of England. The Trust was established by the Pastoral Measure of 1968...
. The church stands north of the village, and northwest of the junction between the A127
A127 road
The A127, also known as the Southend Arterial Road, is one of the trunk roads in England linking London with Southend-on-Sea, the other being the A13. It is a dual carriageway for its entire length, rare on a trunk road since the only others are the A14 and the A282, and is known as the Southend...
and A128 roads, some 4 miles (6 km) south of Brentwood
Brentwood, Essex
Brentwood is a town and the principal settlement of the Borough of Brentwood, in the county of Essex in the east of England. It is located in the London commuter belt, 20 miles east north-east of Charing Cross in London, and near the M25 motorway....
.
Early history
The church was built in the last quarter of the 15th century by the Tyrells of nearby Heron Hall to replace an earlier church on the site. The south chapel and the porch were added in the first quarter of the following century. The upper stage of the tower was rebuilt in the 17th century. During the 19th century, the fabric of the church deteriorated, by the 1890s it was "almost ruinous", and it was closed in 1898. During the next ten years the church was restored by George Frederick BodleyGeorge Frederick Bodley
George Frederick Bodley was an English architect working in the Gothic revival style.-Personal life:Bodley was the youngest son of William Hulme Bodley, M.D. of Edinburgh, physician at Hull Royal Infirmary, Kingston upon Hull, who in 1838 retired to his wife's home town, Brighton, Sussex, England....
to return it to as near as possible to its original condition. However, it was allowed to deteriorate again. During the Second World War, a bomb exploded close to the church, destroying much of the stained glass and weakening its structure. After the war, a tramp
Tramp
A tramp is a long term homeless person who travels from place to place as a vagrant, traditionally walking or hiking all year round. In British English meanwhile a tramp simply refers to a homeless person, usually not a travelling one....
set the tower alight, and thieves stole items from the church, including its four bells. Then vandals caused more damage. The font
Baptismal font
A baptismal font is an article of church furniture or a fixture used for the baptism of children and adults.-Aspersion and affusion fonts:...
and the surviving monuments were removed to museums for safe keeping.
Exterior
All Saints is constructed in red brick, with English bond brickwork, and stone dressings. Its plan consists of a three-bayBay (architecture)
A bay is a unit of form in architecture. This unit is defined as the zone between the outer edges of an engaged column, pilaster, or post; or within a window frame, doorframe, or vertical 'bas relief' wall form.-Defining elements:...
nave
Nave
In Romanesque and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar, the main body of the church. "Nave" was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting...
with north and south two-storey transept
Transept
For the periodical go to The Transept.A transept is a transverse section, of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In Christian churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform building in Romanesque and Gothic Christian church architecture...
s, a chancel
Chancel
In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar in the sanctuary at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building...
with north and south chapels, a south porch, and a west tower. The tower is in two stages, with large corner buttress
Buttress
A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall...
es. The buttresses continue upwards and become turret
Turret
In architecture, a turret is a small tower that projects vertically from the wall of a building such as a medieval castle. Turrets were used to provide a projecting defensive position allowing covering fire to the adjacent wall in the days of military fortification...
s at the corners. In the upper stage are round-headed bell openings. The parapet
Parapet
A parapet is a wall-like barrier at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony or other structure. Where extending above a roof, it may simply be the portion of an exterior wall that continues above the line of the roof surface, or may be a continuation of a vertical feature beneath the roof such as a...
is stepped. On top of the tower is a shingled
Roof shingle
Roof shingles are a roof covering consisting of individual overlapping elements. These elements are typically flat rectangular shapes laid in rows from the bottom edge of the roof up, with each successive higher row overlapping the joints in the row below...
pyramidal roof, surmounted by a weather vane
Weather vane
A weather vane is an instrument for showing the direction of the wind. They are typically used as an architectural ornament to the highest point of a building....
. In the centre of the south side of the church is a gable
Gable
A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of a sloping roof. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system being used and aesthetic concerns. Thus the type of roof enclosing the volume dictates the shape of the gable...
d transept. In its lower storey is a square-headed three-light window, above this is a small window with a brick surround, and in the gable is a sundial
Sundial
A sundial is a device that measures time by the position of the Sun. In common designs such as the horizontal sundial, the sun casts a shadow from its style onto a surface marked with lines indicating the hours of the day. The style is the time-telling edge of the gnomon, often a thin rod or a...
. To the west of the transept is a porch, continuous with the transept, with a pilaster
Pilaster
A pilaster is a slightly-projecting column built into or applied to the face of a wall. Most commonly flattened or rectangular in form, pilasters can also take a half-round form or the shape of any type of column, including tortile....
buttress
Buttress
A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall...
at the junction. Above the entrance to the porch is an arched recess, and at its west corner is a diagonal buttress. Inside the porch is the original seating. The porch leads to the doorway into the church, which dates from about 1500. In the spandrel
Spandrel
A spandrel, less often spandril or splaundrel, is the space between two arches or between an arch and a rectangular enclosure....
s over the archway are carvings of a shield and a Tudor rose
Tudor rose
The Tudor Rose is the traditional floral heraldic emblem of England and takes its name and origins from the Tudor dynasty.-Origins:...
. To the west of the porch is a tall window with a brick surround. To the east of the transept, protruding from the chancel is a two-bay chapel. This contains two square-headed windows, one with two lights, and one with three lights. On the corners are diagonal buttresses. On the north side of the church there is also a central transept. It has similar windows to those in the south transept, plus another square-framed window. To the east of this, in the north wall of the chancel, is a window with an arched head. There are no windows in the north chapel, but there are two large crosses on pedestal
Pedestal
Pedestal is a term generally applied to the support of a statue or a vase....
s. The east window in the chancel has a three-light window with a stone surround, dating from the 19th century.
Interior
On the north wall of the nave are monuments to the Powell family, forerunners of Robert Baden-PowellRobert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell
Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, Bt, OM, GCMG, GCVO, KCB , also known as B-P or Lord Baden-Powell, was a lieutenant-general in the British Army, writer, and founder of the Scout Movement....
. Beside the south door is a damaged stoup
Holy water font
A holy water font or stoup is a vessel containing holy water generally placed near the entrance of a church. It is used in Catholic Church and Lutheran churches, as well as some Anglican churches to make the Sign of the Cross using the holy water upon entrance and exit...
. The north transept contains a narrow brick staircase leading to the upper storey. The upper room of the transept is joined to the corresponding room in the south transept by a beam, the only remaining part of a rood
Rood
A rood is a cross or crucifix, especially a large one in a church; a large sculpture or sometimes painting of the crucifixion of Jesus.Rood is an archaic word for pole, from Old English rōd "pole", specifically "cross", from Proto-Germanic *rodo, cognate to Old Saxon rōda, Old High German ruoda...
screen. The pulpit
Pulpit
Pulpit is a speakers' stand in a church. In many Christian churches, there are two speakers' stands at the front of the church. Typically, the one on the left is called the pulpit...
dating from about 1700 was destroyed by vandals in 1971. In the chancel, a small chapel known as the Founder's Tomb projects from the north wall. A single fragment of medieval
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
stained glass is in one of the chancel windows. The 15th-century chancel roof was damaged during the Second World War, but the parts that have survived include bosses
Boss (architecture)
In architecture, a boss is a knob or protrusion of stone or wood.Bosses can often be found in the ceilings of buildings, particularly at the intersection of a vault. In Gothic architecture, such roof bosses are often intricately carved with foliage, heraldic devices or other decorations...
carved with flowers, fruit, shields and angels. There is a two-bay arcade
Arcade (architecture)
An arcade is a succession of arches, each counterthrusting the next, supported by columns or piers or a covered walk enclosed by a line of such arches on one or both sides. In warmer or wet climates, exterior arcades provide shelter for pedestrians....
between the chancel and the south chapel. This is known as the Tyrell Chapel and contains memorials to members of the Tyrell family. The oldest monument is to Lady Alice Tyrell who died in 1422. This had been moved to Layer Marney
Layer Marney
Layer Marney is a village and civil parish near to Tiptree, in the Colchester borough, in the county of Essex, England. Layer Marney has a Tudor palace called Layer Marney Tower and a church called Church of St Mary the Virgin. In 2001 the population of the civil parish of Layer Marney was 206.-...
in 1969 for safety, but was returned here in 1976. There are marble wall monuments to other members of the Tyrell family, with dates in the 17th and 18th centuries. Under the floor of the chapel is a small crypt, now sealed. In the south transept is an altar tomb dating from about 1520, and in the upper storey is a medieval fireplace and chimney. A staircase leads from the upper storey room down to the porch.
Many of the fittings have been stolen or moved elsewhere. A font dating from about 1200, formerly in the north transept, has been moved to Great Wakering
Great Wakering
Great Wakering is a village in Essex, England. The nearest large town is Southend which is approximately four miles to the west of the village...
in Essex. An escutcheon formerly above the Founder's Tomb has been moved to Layer Marney church. A black marble
Marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite.Geologists use the term "marble" to refer to metamorphosed limestone; however stonemasons use the term more broadly to encompass unmetamorphosed limestone.Marble is commonly used for...
floor slab to the memory of Sir John Tyrell who died in 1675 is in Heron Hall. The most important monument was made by Joseph Nollekens
Joseph Nollekens
Joseph Nollekens was a sculptor from London generally considered to be the finest British sculptor of the late 18th century. He was also a founder member of the Royal Academy in 1768.-Life:...
to Sir John Tyrell, 5th baronet, who died in 1766. This is now in the Victoria and Albert Museum
Victoria and Albert Museum
The Victoria and Albert Museum , set in the Brompton district of The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England, is the world's largest museum of decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 4.5 million objects...
.
Recent history and present day
In 1970 a committee was formed in an attempt to save and preserve the church. Work was undertaken to make the building as safe and as waterproof as possible. The All Saints Society was formed to raise money, donations were received from individuals, and grants were made by the Friends of Friendless ChurchesFriends of Friendless Churches
Friends of Friendless Churches is a registered charity active in England and Wales. It campaigns for and rescues redundant historic churches threatened by demolition, decay, or inappropriate conversion. To that end, as of August 2010, it owns 43 former churches or chapels, 23 of which...
, the Ford Trust of Britain, and Essex County Council. The church was declared redundant on 13 November 1970, and it became vested
Vesting
In law, vesting is to give an immediately secured right of present or future enjoyment. One has a vested right to an asset that cannot be taken away by any third party, even though one may not yet possess the asset. When the right, interest or title to the present or future possession of a legal...
in the Redundant Churches Fund, the forerunners of the Churches Conservation Trust. The Trust has organised further repairs and restorations. An organisation known as the Friends of All Saints East Horndon arranges events in the church. The church is open on Saturdays during the summer months.
External features
In the churchyard is a memorial to members of the Freman family. It consists of an enclosure surrounded by railings, containing three 18th-century tombs in Portland stonePortland stone
Portland stone is a limestone from the Tithonian stage of the Jurassic period quarried on the Isle of Portland, Dorset. The quarries consist of beds of white-grey limestone separated by chert beds. It has been used extensively as a building stone throughout the British Isles, notably in major...
. It has been listed Grade II. Also listed Grade II and associated with the church is a small 17th-century timber-framed
Timber framing
Timber framing , or half-timbering, also called in North America "post-and-beam" construction, is the method of creating structures using heavy squared off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden pegs . It is commonplace in large barns...
stable.