Details
LANGPORT CP THE HILL (South side)
ST4226
11/120 Church of All Saints
17.4.59
GV I
Anglican Parish Church. C12/C13 origins, mostly rebuilt late C15/early C16; restored C19, partly under W.B. Paul in
1867. Local lias stone, mostly cut and squared, Ham stone dressings, some clay tile stitching in tower; sheet lead
covered roofs behind crenellated parapets, except nave and south porch, which have Welsh slates between coped gables.
Cruciform plan without crossing, with additions: 3-bay nave, 6-bay north aisle, 1.5 bay north transept with organ
chamber, 7-bay south aisle, 2-bay south chapel, west tower, south porch and low east vestry. Chancel has double plinth,
string course with gargoyles, battlemented parapets, offset corner and bay buttresses of full height with pinnacles
over; elaborate 5-light east window, and sub-arcuated and transomed side windows of 4 lights, all very late C15; under
second window in south wall a 4-centre arched doorway with quatrefoil spandrils under square label. North transept
similar in style and date, with simpler 4-light east window, and no transome to 4-light sub-arcuated north window, both
under curved labels with headstops; high in north wall a small 2-light C13 plate tracery window formed in one stone.
North aisle may be partly C13, with simple plinth, string course with gargoyles, battlemented parapets, angled corner
and bay buttresses; the 3-light windows appear C19 versions of the wider easternmost window; in bay 4 a blocked moulded
pointed arched doorway; small square C19 window in west wall. South aisle matches the same types of windows as north
aisle, and all other details similar. South Chapel has 4-light sub-arcuated C15 windows in east and south walls,
otherwise details similar to chancel except for angled corner buttresses. South porch mostly C19 restoration; gabled
front, angled corner buttresses, moulded pointed arch with slim cusped lancet above. Tower in 3 stages, C15 but top
rebuilt 1833; full-height octagonal south east turret, offset corner buttresses to 2 stages, with crocketted finials,
merging into angled corner buttresses stage 3; plinth, string courses, with offset below stage 3, gargoyles,
battlemented parapet with pinnacles: west doorway has recut 4-centre arched head under square label, with quatrefoils
in spandrils, flanked by canopied niches; above, a 5-light sub-arcuated window; other faces plain stage 1: Stage 2 has
2-light windows almost triangular headed, transomed, with stone baffles, flanked by canopied niches, one set to each
face except south, one niche only; top stage has similar windows in groups of 3, the centre with stone baffles, the
outer pairs blind, all separated by diagonal pilaster strips and pinnacles. Inside, Chancel has fine late C15 open roof
frame, almost flat, with moulded rib and panel roof having carved bosses, other fittings C19 including good sedilia and
reredos of 1887. Nave badly damaged by fire in 1845; the 4-shaft columns with hollows between have original detail, but
the chancel arch was partly rebuilt; rib and panel vault ceiling; fine timber pulpit of late C17/ early C18 on C19
base. North aisle has one roof bay of C15 fragments, and octagonal late C15 font. South aisle mostly 1877 work, but
south chapel has ceiling matching the chancel, of C15, and double statue niche on corner of chancel arch, and a piscina
or stoup on the central column of the arcade. The tower has a fan vault. Memorials mostly C19, but a good set of C18
Keinton stone slabs with black colouring and fine incised lettering includes memorials to Mary Michell, died 1756, in
north aisle, and to Thomas Bush, died 1753, in Nave. East window has various pieces of C15 stained glass. First
recorded rector 1256. (VCH vol III, 1974).
Listing NGR: ST4222726740
