All Saints

The church is an ancient structure dating from the first half of the 12th century and may have been built on the site of an earlier Saxon building, much of the stone used came from the nearby Roman fort. The interior of the church is one of simple, serene beauty with limewashed walls contrasting with bare stone. All about you are reminders of the history of the village with monolith stone pillars from the fort supporting the arcade of the north aisle. In the chancel are canon stalls with misericord seats, reminders of the preReformation times when Lanchester was a collegiate church and the second largest parish in the Diocese. The altar rail is Jacobean and has been recently restored. Three panels of mediaeval glass are displayed in the chancel. On the floors and walls are numerous memorials to former incumbents and members of local families including one to William Hedley, the locomotive engineer. The pews and several other pieces of furniture are by Robert Thompson of Kilburn and bear his mouse trademark. In the south porch can be found Roman altars and other ancient stone pieces. At the west end of the nave is the tower which houses, from the ground floor up, the choir vestry, the ringing chamber, the clock chamber and the belfry with its ring of eight bells.