Building record 0109800000 - ALL SAINTS' CHURCH, WING

Dimensions - Width 22m, Length 36m.
Plan Form - Cruciform.
Grade I. Orginally C10; nave, north aisle, chancel and crypt survive from this period. S aisle was rebuilt in C14. S porch, w tower and clerestory C15. Restored 1848-9, 1893-4, 1939-40. See detailed listing description (B15).
One of the most interesting Saxon church, for its polygonal apse, crypt and aisles (B7).
During November 2001, a watching brief was carried out during work to remove the organ from the ground floor to the replaced first floor in the western tower. The works included unblocking a doorway leading from the stair turret to the first floor. The door's outline had been visible as a depression in the wall and in the absence of quoins which were present higher up the wall above the blocking. The Tower is believed to be 15th century. The blocking material consisted of small, undressed limestone (200mm x 100mm x 230mm) with occasional pieces of local ironstone set in orangey mortar. The exposed jambs of the aperture were faced with plaster and not made from stone. An pencil or slate inscription on one of the limestone infil stones suggest a 19th century date for the blocking of the doorway (B18).
During February 2001, an informal watching brief was carried out during the excavation of a new rainwater trench around the church. Details of the footings and brick courses of the walls of the North aisle were revealed. The spoil included fragments of human bone and skulls of an adult and a child (B19).
A watching brief was carried out in July 2001 by Thames Valley Archaeological Services during the installation of new central heating pipes. Three trenches were dug and 19th century floor tiles inside the church were lifted to facilitate the work. In all areas only sandy fill and recent building rubble were noted. Historical notes suggest that the church's patron may have been Aelfgifu, who owned the Manor of Wing and who was the sister-in-law of King Edgar (reigned from AD 956 to 975) (B20).
A Glebe terrier of 1607 gives the site of the vicarage to the north of the churchyard and containing approx 1 acre and three roods (B21).
Negative watching brief during drainage trenching across churchyard in September 1999 (B22).
Reassessment of origins and importance of Wing church by Richard Gem, included in Northants Archaeology's excavation report for former school site (CAS 1090), suggests that Wing church originated as a middle Saxon minster serving a discrete local territory, but possibly subsiduary to the minster at Aylesbury. Possible Post-Conquest attempts to replace the minster with a new religious community by the grant of the church to the Abbey of St Nicholas at Angers appears to failed and the church remained as a parish church from the medieval onwards. Detailed discussion of evidence for dating construction of church and subsequent alterations proposes the following sequence: church constructed in late 7th ot 8th century with unaisled nave, two flanking porticos, crypt and apse; the apse was rebuilt in the 9th century, followed by other alterations in the 10th and 11th centuries. Post-Conquest alterations may include the addition of the aisles in the late 11th and 12th centuries and some fragments of re-used sculpture (capital and part of a font). Arches between the nave and aisle chapels were inserted in the 13th century; the aisles had new windows inserted in the mid 14th century; the south porch, tower and clerestory were added in the 15th century and the building was reroofed; the 16th century saw the first of the Dormer memorials in the north chapel. Subsequent work appears to be fairly minor re-ordering and repairs until the 19th century restorations in 1850 and 1892-3 and clearing of the crypt in 1881 (B23,B27).
Illustrated guide book (B24).
Church restored by Sir Gilbert Scott in 1850 (B26).
Crypt: in plan is apsidal with seven slightly irregular sides. Within the crypt itself the central chamber is in the shape of an elongated octagon. The walls are constructed from roughly coursed, rubble masonry with wide set mortar joints. The ambulatory is barrel vaulted.
The niche above the doorway is of 15th century date. Wethered and flaking elements were removed after photographing. The north aisle east window: the damaged mullions were photographed and extent of weathering noted before their removal. No architectural features of note were observed after removal. The north passageway can be described as representing 4 phases. Its initial contstruction, possibly in two phases. Secondly the infilling of the passageway in the medieval or early post-medieval period. Thirdly, the clearing of the crypt by G Gilbert Scott in the 1890s. The fourth phase being 20th century works including consolidation work in the 1950s (B28).
Included in Historic England's Heritage at Risk Register in 2023 and 2024. At risk due to the deteriorating stone of the tower. Emergency works were carried out in 2021 to inform a repair and conservation strategy that does not rely on extensive masonry renewal. A full programme of repair is required. Described as Priority C: Slow decay; no solution agreed; with condition described as 'poor' (B29-30).