Church of All Saints, Wickham St Paul (EHER 9481)

Parish Church. Mainly 14th century with early 16th century west tower and 19th century restorations. Plastered flint rubble to nave, chancel, and south porch. 19th century flint rubble North organ chamber and chapel. Early 16th century west tower. Red brick with some diapering. Red tiled roofs with pierced ridge tiles. The chancel is not divided from the nave.

Monument description derived from merging EHER 9481, 9482, and 29748. Original HER entry merged with NRHE data import: All Saints' Church [NAT]. <1> Parish Church of All Saints stands 1/2 mile WNW of the village. Flint rubble, plaster-covered, with limestone and clunch dressings; the tower is completely red brick; tiled roofs. The walls of the west part of the nave may be 12th century, but no details remain of that date. The eastern part of the nave, with the chancel, was rebuilt probably late in the 14th century. Early in the 16th century, the west tower was added. The south porch is ancient but was encased in the 19th century. The chancel is not divided structurally from the nave. Features and fittings include: 14th, 15th, 16th century windows; 14th century south doorway to nave; 16th century doorway to stair turret in tower; 16th century west doorway in tower; 15th century nave roof one bell is probably 15th century, inscribed; late 13th century chest in vestry; door in doorway to stair turret is probably early 16th century; 15th century glass in nave; 14th century piscina in chancel; recess in nave is early 16th century; screen between chancel and nave is mid 15th century, much restored. Walls of eastern third of nave are a few inches thinner than the walls further west. At the east end of the south wall is a semi-octagonal projection of thin bricks, suggesting a former stair turret against the south wall is a restored buttress. The church was restored in the 19th century when the north organ chamber and chapel were added. The south porch is ancient but was enclosed in the 19th century. Features and fittings include; two late 16th century bells, early 17th century table; 17th century floor slab in churchyard. <2> In 1505 in a will, 20 was left for the building of the tower. Site Assessment = Pevsner thought the tower a fine specimen, though not high. Rest of the church indifferent. <3> Church of All Saints'. Parish Church. Mainly 14th century with early 16th century west tower and 19th century restoration. Plastered flint rubble nave, chancel and south porch. Early 16th century west tower in red brick with some diapering. Red tiled roofs. South wall of chancel has blocked doorway. Chancel screen mid 15th century restored. Roof of bell chamber in tower "dated valley roof of 1505 supported on a heavy beam". Reputed to be 5 bells, 3 dating from the 16th century. 19th century additions in flint rubble. Church has 20th century features also. Grade II*. <4> <5> Photo in SMR shows south wall of chancel after plaster stripped. Blocked doorway (see above) visible, also a narrow single light window with a possible 13th century pointed head. Photo in SMR shows rendering removed (from south wall) and features showing. Seems to have been some works at base of wall (possible damp course) - possibly not observed archaeologically. <6> Nave and chancel now undivided; fabric may be older than the 14th century details which are visible. External walls all cement rendered and in poor state. Rendering is bulging and has recently been patched. Ground level is high and bases of walls are very damp. Building is of no particular interest apart from the tower. The site could have great archaeological potential, but definite evidence is lacking. Graded CIIa by Rodwell. <7> 1992. Watching brief. Two drain runs on the south side of the church were inspected, one beginning adjacent to the buttress east of the porch, and the other running from the south-east corner of the chancel. That running from the nave was excavated to a depth of 900mm, revealing a single deposit of brown sandy loam. Natural as exposed in the soakaway is an orangey sand. The nave foundations are 830mm deep, consisting of packed flint in a sandy silty matrix. The foundations (flint and stone is a soft yellow mortar) of the polygonal stair turret to the rood were exposed in the east side of this trench. The buttress is built up against the remains of this turret. In the drains from the chancel, the top of a brick vault was encountered at a distance of about 1.4m. The bricks looked as if they dated from the first half of the 19th century. <8> December 1993. Watching brief. A shallow drainage ditch was dug along most of the south side of the nave and chancel, and the east and west walls of the south porch. The trench ran from the junction between tower and nave (at the west) to the east end of the chancel. Depth was variable (500mm at most) and was generally rather shallower at the eastern end. The footings of the nave and chancel were exposed as rather roughly packed flint in a creamy-yellow mortar of rather variable quality (some crumbly). The footings were offset by the width of an average flint module (150-300mm). The footings of the porch were identical with those of the nave and seemed to be of the same build. At the base of the thick render which covers both external surfaces of the porch, traces of brick visible above the flint footings. The base of a probable stair turret, however the thin bricks had been replaced by relatively modern bricks from 1m above ground level (same build as the restoration of the buttress). No finds were made except for tile (same as that on the roof). An elderly resident said the church had formerly been thatched (now had a red tile roof). <9> See also: <10> - <14> Description from record 29748: C14 parish church with early C16 W tower and C19 restorations.