A rural gem of a church

All Saints’ Waterden is an ancient, mysterious and spiritual place. Waterden derives from “Waterdenna”, the name of the village in the Domesday Book of 1086, meaning a “watery valley” in Anglo-Saxon. Domesday does not record that Waterden had a church then and the exact origins of the present building are unknown.

Just as the origins of All Saints’ are a mystery, so is much of its subsequent history. The evidence is patchy but it points to a building which has undergone many ups and downs. The rare and fascinating architectural hodgepodge that we see today is the result of perhaps 1,000 years of use, neglect and revival – all partly reflecting the fluctuating fortunes of the congregation.

All Saints’ fabric and the records suggest several major phases in the evolution of the church from early modern times. Extensive changes in the 17th century probably indicate that the building had fallen into disrepair and even disuse, perhaps associated with the decline of the village.

The Great Gale of 24th March 1895 caused much damage when a tree fell on the church. All Saints’ did not reopen until extensive work was completed in 1900. The floor was repaired in 1923. The church suffered further damage in the storms of 1953. Significant repairs were undertaken in the 1970s, 1992-94 and 2005-6. Most recently, a thorough restoration was carried out with the generous help of the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the Norfolk Churches Trust, the Garfield Weston Foundation, the Geoffrey Watling Charity and the Holkham Estate in 2018-19.

A boundary stone on the right where the track to the church joins the churchyard marks the point where church lands meet lay lands. It symbolises how All Saints’ antiquity, mystery and remote rural location create a special atmosphere of spirituality. Alan Bennett has written affectionately about All Saints and Osbert Lancaster has drawn it evocatively. Today this modest but intriguing little church thrives again as a place of Christian worship, peaceful contemplation and community identity.

All Saints’ is Grade II* listed. It is built mainly from brick, flint and rubble. From the outside, it has three main visible elements: the chancel, the nave, and ruins at the west end. Overall, the relative proportions of the chancel and nave are a bit unusual, the chancel being wider than the nave and a little longer than normal.

The ruins at the west end were thought to be the remains of a fallen tower. A more convincing explanation is that they formed part of the nave. A small bell-cote perches on top of the nave where the end wall has been filled in.

There is a less obvious but highly intriguing feature on the south side. Traces of arches can be seen in the wall of the nave, filled in with rough material and odd windows. Archaeological excavation has revealed the outlines of a side aisle and chapel built out on the south side of the church. The aisle probably dates from the 14th century and the chapel may be older. Today the arches only hint at what was there. The south side also has a door, opposite the main entrance and porch on the north side.

Oddities are equally abundant inside. It has been suggested that some features, such as the clerestory (five small windows high up, four of them blocked), are Anglo-Saxon. This is now thought only to be a possibility.