All Saints Church, West Harling

All Saints Church stands alone on the edge of Thetford Forest in the civil parish of Harling, Norfolk. Built mainly of flint with ashlar dressings and tiled roofs, the church follows a simple plan with a nave, south porch, chancel and west tower. The tower rises in two stages, its buttresses decorated with chequered flushwork, and the upper stage has paired lancet bell openings topped by a crenellated parapet. Carved heads appear around the exterior walls, while the east window of the chancel dates from about 1300. The porch is gabled with diagonal buttresses and two-light windows in each side. The church’s history stretches back to the late 13th century, with later additions in the following century. Repairs were carried out in 1733 and 1756, and a full restoration took place in 1902. Inside, the nave has a hammerbeam roof and the chancel a barrel vault, both from 1902. Medieval stained glass survives in some windows, and the octagonal font is from the 15th century. Three brasses in the nave floor record dates in the late 15th and early 16th centuries, while the reredos contains Flemish panels. Visitors find a quiet interior where the hammerbeam roof of the nave meets the barrel vault of the chancel. Fragments of painted diaper decoration appear on the back of a niche, and a bust from 1780 stands within the church. The tower’s lower stage holds a two-light Perpendicular west window added in 1902, and the south porch shelters a trefoil-headed statue niche. Outside, the flint walls and chequered buttresses frame views of the surrounding forest edge.