All Saints' Church, Maldon (EHER 7735)

A church of 13th-15th century date, remodelled in 1728 and restored in 1858, 1867 and 1877. The plan comprises an aisled nave, chancel, west tower, south chapel, and north porch, now vestry. It is built from flint and rubble with some limestone and ashlar dressings; the north wall of the nave has been rebuilt in red brick with burnt headers and there is red brick on the east gable. The roofs are covered in plain tile and the spire is oak-shingled. The south chapel was probably the chantry of Sir Robert D'Arcy founded in around 1443.

Monument description derived from merging with EHER 7736, EHER 38372 and EHER 46894: October 1951. Grade I listed. A 13th-15th century parish church, remodelled in 1728 and restored in 1858, 1867 and 1877. It is built from flint and rubble with some limestone and ashlar dressings; the north wall of the nave has been rebuilt in red brick with burnt headers and there is red brick on the east gable. The roofs are covered in plain tile and the spire is oak-shingled. The south chapel was probably the chantry of Sir Robert D'Arcy founded in around 1443. The building comprises a nave with four-bay south aisle from around 1330; the north arcade was removed and the north aisle wall rebuilt in 1728. At the west end of the nave is a triangular tower, with the tower arch facing NE. The west wall of the nave runs SW at an angle from the NW angle of the north aisle to meet the tower. There is a 19th century north porch, now vestry. It has a three-bay chancel with D'Arcy chapel to the south and organ chamber to the north, under a triple gabled roof. The church has a probably early 13th century three-stage tower incorporating earlier fabric in the base, which was partially refaced in the 19th century. The spire is flanked by short spirelets at angles. Internally, the building retains a 14th century piscina, described as 'mutilated'. There are good 17th century wall monuments on the east and south walls of the chancel to: John Jeffrey, died 1657; Mary Scrivener, wife of John Vernon, died 1647; Sarah Butler, died 1638. And on the east wall of the north chapel: 1602 monument to Thomas Cammocke and his two wives with kneeling figures in a continuous aedicule. The fittings include a Stuart Royal Arms in timber; rood screen from 1925; 19th century stone font; 20th century pulpit with tester. <1> See photos <2>. 1984. Archaeological investigation including dowsing survey. The building of the south aisle must have disturbed burials in the churchyard in this area and a charnel house was built to accommodate them. Later, in the 15th century, this became a crypt for the D'Arcy family. Two blocked recesses in its east wall are mysterious. The author of <3> thought they were originally windows rather than bone chutes, recording that a window in the south wall admitted light, the two at the east being blocked by the construction of the D'Arcy chapel. 'Dowsing' by Maldon Archaeological Group indicated a corridor and shelf-like extension below the chapel. <3> <4> In 1984, two blocked recesses at the east end of the crypt were investigated in 1984 by cutting two small holes through them. This indicated post-medieval burial vaults lay beyond and produced evidence for the former presence of a large void. The area behind the north recess was disturbed by an adjacent brick course. This disturbed area is post-medieval in date, possibly 17th or 18th century, apparently connected with late burials in the south (D'Arcy) chapel. There is documentary evidence for burials in the churchyard at this time. The results of the work were not conclusive. Finds from the excavation included human bone; shell; brick; tile mortar; pottery, stone; a glass fragment; wood; brass studs (coffin fragments?); a lead object (hinge or binding); an iron nail; and an iron screw. <3> - <6> Brick fragments in the blocking of the recess of the crypt were similar to brick in the reveals of the openings. It is likely that material from the aisle east wall was used to block the openings when the aisle was extended in the 15th century. Research indicated much of the brick in the crypt and crypt staircase is probably original (from the first half of the 14th century). <7> July 1992. Building recording. The dominating feature of the Maldon skyline is the tall spire of All Saints' Church. Rising above the 14th century south aisle is a triangular tower surmounted by a glorious shingle-covered hexagonal wooden spire rising to a height of 29.3m, and set on an underframe encased within the top of the tower. The spire is an exceptional piece of carpentry designed to be assembled in sections and has reinforcements within to add stability. This has produced an exceptionally strong structure that still maintains its form and alignment after a life of some 700 years. At the top storey of the tower, a maze of timber of varying ages, with some re-arrangement of original timbers, reflects the many changes resulting from the good and bad times in the life of the spire. The last main changes date from the Victorian era and involved the replacement of rafter beams, or only beam ends in many cases. The workers who last re-shingled the spire in 1928 left their names on one shingle batten, and a lead plate on the mast stating: 'W J HAZELL, A RUSBROOKE, H WELLS, E KEMP / THE LAST SHINGLE WAS PUT ON HERE BY THE ABOVE AT 4PM ON FRIDAY OCT 25TH 1928. MAY THIER (sic) LABOURS BE REWARDED.' New oak shingles were fitted in July 1992. <8> 2009. Watching brief. The floor in the south aisle was removed and the top of the crypt beneath the south aisle was visible (a brick had been removed and replaced), the remainder of the area was covered by loose debris and mortar and no features were visible. In the north chapel, the floor had also been lifted to reveal a layer of debris and mortar covering an earlier brick floor. Four test-pits had been dug through this. In Test Pit 1 a brick floor set in a sand and mortar bed was recorded above a layer of dark brown, loose pebbly fill with occasional brick and mortar fragments, a second layer of sand and mortar (visible on the north, west and south sides) and more dark brown, loose pebbly fill. Natural was not reached. In Test Pit 2 the stratigraphy comprised a brick floor set in sand and mortar bed, then the remainder was dark brown, rather loose pebbly fill with occasional brick and mortar fragments, and some rotted wood (possibly derived from coffins). Natural was not reached. Test Pit 3 was a wedge-shaped pit which echoed the shape of the brick-built vault beneath which it had been cut into. The east, north and south faces all comprised a brick-built wall. The bricks were 8½ by 2½ inches, probably later post-medieval in date. The west face comprised a very loose dark brown pebbly fill in which the outline of the coffin(much rotted) was clearly visible. Natural was not reached. Test Pit 4 was next to the north wall of the chapel and exposed the foundations of the wall. The north face comprised the lowest levels of the chapel wall (two courses of rough stonework), a ledge some 10cm deep and rubble foundations to a depth of 90cm, these were set on a sand and mortar bed. Beneath this was the layer of dark-brown pebbly fill evident in the other three test pits. The other three faces all comprised the brick floor, set in a sand and mortar bed overlaying a dark brown pebbly fill containing numerous bone and coffin fragments. The outline of two coffins were clearly visible in the section and there were marks of a further five boards beneath the southernmost coffin – although whether these represented boards laid in the base of a grave or coffins which had been flattened is not known. Four human skulls were recovered, two of which probably either child or small female skulls, as well as assorted other bones (these were put to one side for re-burial). The coffins had once had iron handles and decorative brass upholstery studding on the surface – of probable 18th or early 19th century date. 1602). Natural was not reached. A series of other observations were also made. The North Chapel has a number of stone slabs, which appear to have been re-laid so as to form a path along the southern side of the chapel. Two of these have indents for brasses and are of probable 15th century date, one has a much worn skull and cross-bones motif of probable 17th century date and two have dates of 1636 (John Soan, Alderman of Maldon) and 1798 (Thompson Ruffhead curate of Prittlewell). Over the door there is a small carved monument showing Thomas Cammocke with his two wives, 16 daughters and four sons, dated to 1602. It is possible that the burials uncovered may relate to some of these individuals or their families or descendants. <9> All Saints' Church has flint rubble walls with limestone and Purbeck marble dressings, and tiled roofs. Some reused material in the tower indicates the former existence of a 12th century church. The unusual triangular west tower is mid 13th century. The south arcade and aisle date from around 1330. At this time there seems to have been a south porch on the site of the west bay - the porch was pulled down and the aisle extended to the present length immediately afterwards. The crypt or bone-hole under the south aisle is also from around 1330. The chancel may be 14th century but there are no old details. The south chapel is probably the chantry of Sir Robert D'Arcy founded in around 1443. The north chapel was added soon after and there may have been a contemporary NE vestry, since removed. The nave may have had a north aisle but was rebuilt in one span of 1728, with the chancel arch. The church was much restored in the 19th and 20th centuries. The north porch is 'modern'. The late 15th century north arcade in the chancel has a panel over it inscribed 'Rebuilt 1800'. The 14th century carved work in the south aisle 'is rich and good'. The features and fittings include: 13th, 14th, 15th century windows and window details; 13th, 14th, 15th century doorways - 14th century door in a 14th century south doorway; 14th century carved window splays, blind arches and wall arcade in the south aisle; early 16th century south aisle roof; 15th century inscribed sanctus bell; late 15th century brass (part indent) in the nave; 15th and 16th century indents in the north chapel and nave; early 16th century glass in the nave west window; 15th century mason's marks on the chancel arcades; early 15th century D'Arcy wall monument on the south wall of the chapel; 15th and 16th century panelling incorporated in modern seating in the nave; late 14th or early 15th century sedilia in the south aisle wall arcading; early 14th century corbel and grotesque head in the south chapel on the cill of a SW window; reused 12th and 13th century worked stone in the west wall of the south aisle and in the tower. An arch in the west wall of the north chapel is from around 1728. Some window detailing in the south chapel is 18th century. A blocked window in the tower NW wall is 17th or 18th century. Features and fittings include: joists at the end of the south aisle roof are 17th century; four bells from 1707; a 16th century indent; two late 17th century chairs in the chancel; early 17th century chest in the north chapel; 17th century glass in the south chapel; 17th and 18th century floor slabs and monuments; 17th century, possibly, painting in tracery panels between windows in south wall of south aisle; plate includes two flagons from 1705, Stuart Arms in carved and painted wood on the north wall of the nave; late 17th century table in north chapel. The RCHM has a photo of carved work in the south aisle. <10> <11> <12> A unique triangular tower. The architectural interest is concentrated in the south aisle, which is 'exceptionally lavishly executed inside'. The only pre-19th century window is the easternmost which is 14th century but later than the interior. Within, it cuts into the arcading which distinguishes the aisle. The sedilia is an unusual feature of this aisle, as is the crypt below, reached by a spiral staircase in the outer wall. Nothing is known that would explain the splendour of this aisle, reminiscent of the Lady Chapel at Ely, though with a good many reductions. The date of that is around 1340 which seems a good date for All Saints also. The brick nave is from 1728, Gothicised. All but one of the south aisle windows are 19th century. Pevsner has a photo of the south aisle. <13> The south aisle '.. contains some of the best decorative arcading in Essex'. <14> All Saints parish appears to have been the last of the parishes to be formed, having been carved out of St Peters parish at some point before 1189. It is placed beside the market-place with its front wall abutting the street, with a constricted churchyard. It had become the largest and most lavishly appointed of the churches by the mid 14th century. The earliest surviving portion of the church is the triangular three-storey tower which is probably early 13th century in date. The nave has a four-bay south aisle, dated to around 1330. The south chapel was probably the chantry of Sir Robert D'Arcy, founded in around 1443. The church is of flint and rubble construction with some limestone and ashlar dressings and was originally plastered on the exterior. It has been suggested that the triangular shape of the tower was due to there only being a limited space available for the new building, in what was the oldest and most populated area of the town. Fitch (<15>) records that the fragments of a stone cross and skeletons were dug up opposite the Town Hall (D'Arcy House), to the SE of All Saints Church, when a sewer was laid in the High Street. At approximately the same date, more skeletons were found to the north of All Saints church (also during the laying of sewers?). It is uncertain whether these skeletons derive from an originally much larger graveyard at All Saints or whether they belong to an earlier period, possibly either Saxon or Iron Age/Roman. <5> A fine parish church with unique triangular tower. It has a richly carved south aisle with chantry chapel of the D'Arcy family. Much of the church was reroofed into a single span in 1728.<16> See also <17> <18>. Site Assessment: Notable for the 13th century triangular tower and carved features in the south aisle. <10> Triangular tower unique in England. <11> NRHE data transfer: All Saints' Church (CofE) [NAT]. <19> See also <20> <21> <22>.