Church of All Saints, Tolleshunt Major (EHER 11492)

Former parish church, now a Greek Orthodox church. 12th century origin, with 13th, 15th and 19th century details. Walls of stone rubble including indurated gravel conglomerate, mainly plastered, repaired with red brick, with limestone dressings. Porch timber framed on red brick plinth in English bond. Roofs of handmade red clay tiles. Nave walls 12th century. Chancel rebuilt in 13th century. South porch built in around 1500.

December 1959. Grade II* listed. A parish church, now a Greek Orthodox church. <1> See photos <2>. A 12th century origin with 15th and 19th century detail. Walls of stone rubble including indurated gravel conglomerate, mainly plastered and repaired with red brick, with limestone dressings. Nave walls 12th century, the chancel rebuilt in the 13th century. South porch constructed in around 1500. Two centred 15th century chancel arch. Nave windows are of the 15th and 19th centuries. The north and south doorways are both 15th century. In the west wall is a 19th century window with rear arch of possibly 13th century. In the blocked north doorway is a mutilated stone effigy of man in armour of around 1380. The roof of the nave is mainly medieval, partly restored in the 19th century. The chancel has a 19th century east window, 19th century doorway and part of a 19th century window in the south wall. The cancel roof is medieval in origin but half is a 19th century restoration. There are 19th century windows in the north and south walls of the nave. The south porch is 15th or early 16th century, and much restored in the 19th century. Two bells of 1575 and 1664, the former stolen but the latter removed for safekeeping to the Greek Orthodox monastery, Rectory Road. <3> April 1960. Field survey. No field action taken. <4> 2006. Heritage assessment. The north nave wall masonry exhibits features characteristic of 12th century work. The south nave wall is clearly contemporary. An 11th century date for these two walls is however also conceivable. Flintwork visible at the bottom of these walls may represent the first season of work during construction of the church. The west wall was rebuilt during the 14th-15th centuries and provided with angle buttresses. When this was done the nave was lengthened by about 700mm an event which may be associated with the construction of a timber belfry (now removed). The medieval windows, three in each side, are 15th century in style but only the middle ones in each side preserve medieval masonry. The other 15th century style windows are probably 19th century. Development of the chancel is masked by rebuilding and intact render. The relationship between nave and chancel suggests that the church was originally single celled. In the south wall there is a fragmentary window of the 14th century. There are 17th-early 18th century buttress to the south-east angle of chancel. North wall of chancel largely rebuilt in brick in the 19th century. The vestry added in around 1870 was removed due to structural reasons; the east window is badly deformed and has a history of movement. Victorian repairs are quite extensive; late 19th century work includes the addition of a bellcote (in around 1880) the west window, east window, former vestry, probable insertion of four windows into the nave and a re-roofing. <4> Morant states that in his time the church had a timber belfry with two bells and a shingled spire. <6> Tolleshunt Major redundant church now in the hands of the Greek Orthodox order. Norman fabric nave and chancel with late Medieval detailing. <7> Nave and chancel of uncertain date. The RCHM suggested they were Norman fabric but the detailing is all late medieval. The building was redundant for many years and has been conveyed to the Greek Orthodox Church, the liturgical practice of which has resulted in the removal or blocking of all the medieval windows in the chancel. 19th century vestry - now demolished. A portion of an unrecorded font lies to the east of the church. <8> Proportions of the nave and the thickness of the walls indicate a 12th century building but none of the details are earlier than the 15th century. Chancel rebuilt in the 13th or 14th century. The roof of the chancel incorporates some 15th or 16th century timbers. A 15th century door in the north doorway of overlapping battens with strap hinges. Font of Barnack Stone, a square tapering bowl, the sides each with two square traceried panels, of 14th century date, the panels probably cut from an earlier bowl. Set in the wall of the nave is a carved head on a moulded bracket, probably 15th century. Church extensively restored in the 19th century. <9> <10> Site Assessment: All the medieval windows of the chancel have been blocked or removed. The chancel walls are badly cracked, the exterior of the whole church is rendered and is mainly in a poor state. Much of the dressed stonework is decayed and the nave walls are bulging. The church and the graveyard are both in a rundown condition and the victims of vandalism. The church is both architecturally and archaeologically more interesting than its superficial appearance would suggest. There have been historic losses here in recent years and future restoration work should be carefully watched. <8> All Saints' Church [T.U.]. <11> Church of All Saints. Whole building in poor condition with walls cracked and north-east end of chancel propped. <12> Declared redundant and transferred to Orthodox Monastery of St John the Baptist; made freehold after Pastoral Measure. <13> The church is reported to be in poor state. <8> <14> Original HER entry merged with NRHE data import.