All Saints Church Ashover - The Interior

Effigies of Thomas and Edith Babington

My trip to Ashover coincided with the August Bank Holiday weekend and, after exploring its geology, the vernacular architecture and the exterior of All Saints church, I went inside to take a quick look at the internal features. 

A view east along the nave to the chancel

With many visitors taking advantage of the very hot summer’s day, and with many of the features obscured by the flower festival being held in the church, I didn’t spend as much time exploring it as I would have done if it were empty, but there were plenty of points of interest to be seen. 

A view west along the nave to the tower

Although most of the capitals were obscured by flowers, the four bay north arcade has steep pointed arches springing from octagonal columns, considered to date to the C14, with a fifth eastern bay having a noticeably wider and lower arch. 

The north arcade

There is an obvious difference between the lower and higher levels of masonry, with the latter being composed of very large, well squared blocks of Ashover Grit and marking the insertion of the clerestory during the C15. 

The south arcade

The south arcade is composed of four bays, with taller pointed arches and slim octagonal columns, which Pevsner states as being late Perpendicular Gothic. The masonry above is uniform in composition and matches the upper part of the north side of the nave. 

An old roof line above the tower arch

Looking along the nave to the tower, an old roof line can be clearly seen above the plaques that have been placed over the tower arch – an area once occupied by the musicians’ gallery. The roof line above the chancel arch is less well defined; however, looking closely at the masonry, a change in the shape and size of the stone blocks indicates a phase of building when the east end of the nave was raised.

The staircase leading to the rood screen

At the east end of the south arcade, there are the remains of a stairway to the rood loft and the entrance from the north aisle, and there is a large square squint at the east end of the south aisle, which has been filled with glass. 

The north wall of the chancel

In the chancel, it is again possible to clearly distinguish the C15 ashlar of the south wall from the older masonry of the east and north wall, with two niches with ogee arches built into the latter. 

A detail of the Thomas Babington chest tomb

Several wall memorials are found on the walls, but the most interesting monument by far is the large alabaster chest tomb, with the effigies of Thomas Babington (d.1518) and his wife Edith being brightly painted and, on the wall behind them, an ornamented ogee arch is carved into a large panel to which a commemorative brass has been fixed. 

An ornamented ogee arch

The lead covered gritstone font, dated c.1150, is of particular interest as only about thirty are still in existence, with the vast majority of them melted down to make bullets during the English Civil War – as also happened with the stained glass at All Saints church.

A detail of the font