All Saints Church, Boltongate

All Saints Church stands in the quiet village of Boltongate in Cumbria. It is an old Anglican church built mainly in the late 14th century on the foundations of an earlier church. The building was designed to resist fire and attack, with a fortified rectory that includes a pele tower. It is recognised as a Grade I listed building on the National Heritage List for England. Nikolaus Pevsner called it one of Cumbria’s architectural sensations. The church mixes styles from different places. Outside it is Perpendicular Gothic, while inside it shows Scottish and French influences. The nave has a stone barrel-vaulted roof, a rare feature that suggests its defensive purpose. Corbels support the parapet walk and once helped build the vault. The chancel has an open timber roof, and the south transept holds an ogee-arched piscina with aumbry recesses. Inside, the walls carry plaques from the 18th and 19th centuries. Stained glass by R. B. Edmundson dates from 1864 and 1884. A 19th-century organ from Kendal now stands in the west. The church’s plan includes north and south porches that help support the heavy stone roof. A hexagonal stair turret leads to the parapet walk, ending in a slate spire.