Building record 0188200000 - ALL SAINTS CHURCH, OVING

Dimensions - Length 23m, Width 14m.
Tradition that N aisle was demolished in Civil War (B1).
Grade II+. Parish church. Early C13 nave and chancel; later C13 S. aisle, extended to form S. chapel C14; C14 S. porch; C15 clerestory; early C16 W. tower; all much restored 1866 and 1889; C19 N. vestry. Former N. aisle was late C13, destroyed C16-C17. Coursed rubble limestone, rendered clerestory to S.; tiled roofs to vestry and chancel, remainder with lead roofs. Tower of 3 stages has plinth, diagonal buttresses, moulded parapet dated 1674 with carved heads to string course below, and small projecting stair turret at S.E. corner. Single openings to bell chamber with semi-circular heads and square hoodmoulds. W. side has doorway with shallow pointed arch and square hoodmould, 3-light cusped window with 4-centred head, and a small slit window above. Nave has parapet with C19 coping and coved moulding below. To N. side there is an off-set buttress, a blocked door with 2-centred arch and traces of another arch above, a single cusped light, C19 lean-to vestry and a clerestory of 3 small lights, one quatrefoil, the others with trefoil heads. 2 later wooden brackets on stone corbels support overhanging drain- pipes. N.E. end has C19 buttress with broach-stopped finial. S. clerestory has 2 similar trefoil-headed lights. Wide S. aisle and chapel have C16 windows with cusped lights and flat heads, and C14 E. window with reticulated tracery. Small pointed window to S. between E. bays. S. door in 2-centred chamfered arch, porch with similar moulded arch and stone benches. Chancel has lancet windows: to N. and S. sides, triple window with taller central light to E. All openings much restored. Interior: double chamfered arch to tower. Nave has S. arcade of 2 double chamfered arches with central octagonal pier, and another separate arch at it, end. One arch remains of N. arcade, now giving access to C19 vestry; traces of other arches. Nave roof has C15 moulded tie beams and purlins with braces dated 1657 and remainder renewed 1922. S. aisle has cusped ogee stoup, wide recess with moulded ogee arch and small window,cusped ogee piscina and moulded stone book-rest from Pitchcott re-set in window jamb. Double chamfered arch from S. chapel to chancel. Similar chancel arch. Fittings: C13 circular font; C15-early C16 screen, the central arch with 4-centred head and carved spandrels, the open panels with restored tracery and cornice above; 4 early C17 pews with shaped ends; Jubilee window of 1887 in S. chapel. Monument to Rob Dell. Senior Church Warden, 1739. RCHM II p.229-31 (B7).
Included in a collection of sketches of Buckinghamshire churches by Charlotte Pigott in the early 1840s (B8).


Parish Church of All Saints, in the village, is built of stone rubble, with ashlar dressings; the rubble of the W tower is coursed. The roofs are covered in lead, except that of the chancel which is tiled. Early in the 13th century the present chancel was built, or possibly rebuilt, as the plan deflected towards the S. The nave is probably also of early 13th-century date; N and S aisles of two bays were added c1280, the south aisle being built first; c1330 the S aisle was lengthened towards the E for a chantry chapel, and the south porch was built. In the 15th century the clearstorey was added and the nave re-roofed. In the first half of the 16th century the west tower was built, and probably the S aisle was lengthened towards the W at the same time. In the 16th or 17th century the N aisle was destroyed, and the arcade blocked. In 1657 the clearstorey and roof of the nave were repaired. The S porch was restored in 1717, the church generally in 1866, and the tower in 1889. The north transept is modern (B3).