All Hallows Church, Great Mitton


All Hallows Church, Great Mitton, is in the village of Great Mitton, Lancashire, England. It is an active Anglican parish church in the deanery of Whalley, the archdeaconry of Blackburn, and the Diocese of Blackburn. Its benefice is united with that of . The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building.

History

The oldest fabric in the church dates from the late 13th century. The tower was added in the early 15th century, followed by the north chapel in the 16th century. The church was refurbished in 2000.

Architecture

All Hallows is constructed in sandstone with a stone slate roof. The south wall of the chancel is pebbledashed. The plan consists of a nave, a narrower chancel, a north chapel, a south porch, and a west tower. The tower is in three stages, with diagonal buttresses. It has a west doorway, a four-light west window, and two-light bell openings. On its summit is an embattled parapet. The windows along the sides of the nave have two lights with Y-tracery. There is a priest's door on the south wall of the chancel. The east window has five lights. Inside the church is a west gallery. The chancel screen includes some medieval woodwork, which possibly came from Sawley Abbey. In the chancel are a triple sedilia and a piscina. The chapel contains memorials to the Shireburn family, dating from the late 16th to the early 18th century. There is a ring of six bells. The earliest two were cast in 1567, possibly in France. These are followed by a bells of 1624 by William Oldfield, of 1726 by Samuel Smith II, of 1834 by Thomas Mears II from the Whitechapel Bell Foundry, and of 1872 by John Taylor and Company.

External features

In the churchyard is a sandstone sundial dated 1683, with a brass gnomon and plate. It has been listed at Grade II. Also listed at Grade II is a cross of 1897 with a 14th-century head, again in sandstone. It has a square base, which broaches to a tapering octagonal shaft.