The 18th Century was The Churchwardens' Century. It was they who blocked up the
North door because the people believed the Scandinavian legend that the devil
entered from the North. The Churchwardens also inserted the none too ornate windows in the north and south walls
and introduced "Horse-box" pewing.
The Tower was rebuilt in the Georgian period. The upper part of the tower was
covered with wooden boards. It is thought that they probably used wood because
it was cheaper than using stone.
In 1717 the "Vinegar " Bible was
presented to the Church. The Bible is so called because the word vinegar is
mis-spelt in the Bible with the vinegar being spelt "vinevard".
It was also during this time that the south transept was rebuilt.
In 1780 a gallery was put up at the back , against the west wall. it was from
this gallery that the musicians played.
19th CENTURY
Archdeacon and Mrs Bisset were largely responsible for the restoration of
the Church in 1840. The minstrels gallery , which stood over the west door
was removed; as was the beautiful rood screen, which had survived the
destruction of the Reformation and the Civil Wars. The rood screen was
removed by the Bisset family and transported to Scotland where it was used
to panel the interior of two summer houses in the gardens of Lessendrum, the
family home of the Bissets. Unfortunately the house of Lessendrum was
totally destroyed by fire in the early 20th century.
They also removed some of the old box pews.
In
1857 the musicians gallery was dismantled and the present organ was
installed. The organ was built by Bevington and sons from London. The organ
is now run by electricity though it
used to run using bellows. Someone (often a young lad) used to have to keep
pushing this handle in order to fill the bellows and keep the organ working.
If
there wasn't an organist available the "dumb organist" was used, five hymns could
slowly be played by the organ's helpmate. This dumb organ was placed on the
real organ's keyboard and when set to work it pressed down the appropriate
keys. This "dumb organist" can
be seen today in the Vestry next to the Churchwardens' chest.
In the drastic restoration of 1883. the then Vicar. Rev. Dicker, removed the old
high pews, had the plaster ceiling beaten down and in so doing uncovered the
open timbers of the roof and the Sanctus Bell opening over the great chancel
arch.
In
1885 a lectern was presented to All Saints, Church by the Parish Church of
Frome in Somerset. The lectern had been in Frome Parish Church for 150 years
making it over 260 years old. The Lectern is called the Pelican lectern
because it was thought to have a family of pelicans on it, though
actually the large bird holding the bible is an eagle and the chicks look
more like young pheasants.
