All Saints' Church

[Rubex]

All Saints’ Church is a redundant Anglican church in the village of Beeby, and is Grade II* listed. The earliest part of the church is thought to be the south isle, which has a 13th century doorway. The north isle dates to around 1300, the clerestory and west tower to the 15th century. For reasons unknown, the spire was never completed. The chancel was rebuilt during a restoration by George Calvert between 1818 and 1865, when he was rector. The church was placed into the care of The Churches Conservation Trust in 1990.
The font has a 13th century base, surmounted by a 17th century basin. The carved wooden cover is from the 18th century.
The stone carvings added between the nave arches include a serpent, a skull and crossbones, an angel and a crucifix, and a King and bishop look down from the tower arches.

​

It seems that this church is home to Brown Long-Eared Bats. Given the amount of bat droppings everywhere, there must be a lot. Unfortunately I found two dead ones. The population of Brown Long-Eared Bats in the UK is somewhere around 245,000, which is quite low when compared to the Common Pipistrelle, with a population of 2,430,000 in the UK.

​

Thanks for looking,

Rubex

 

[krela]

Love the ten commandments. I wonder if the BCT know about the bats, might be worth dropping them a line with what you saw.

 

[HughieD]

Beautifully captured Rubex. Let's hope it stays so pristine.

 

[Rubex]

Love the ten commandments. I wonder if the BCT know about the bats, might be worth dropping them a line with what you saw.

I've just had an interesting conversation with one of the representives of the BCT, and he said to contact the local bat group (which I have now done). He said there is no obligation to let anyone know of the presence of bats in a building as they're protected by law anyway. I wasn't aware that applied to all species!

 

[krela]

Yep universal protection, a lot of animals do! There's no obligation no, but if there's a colony of rare bats they don't know about then at least they're on record and someone can keep an eye on them.

 

[jsp77]

Fantastic shots as always Rubex, especially with the natural light shining through.

 

[Mearing]

That's a bit special. Thank you. A pity that the congregation has withered away.

 

[Dirus_Strictus]

Very nice set of images Rubex. Sadly the damp seems to be getting at the base of some pillars a bit more aggressively since I was last there. As to the spire - According to some old books on church architecture I have, it could all just be down to fashion. This church is not mentioned specifically, but the build dates tie in with other churches that did not have the original tower designs adhered to because spire like adornments suddenly were not the 'in thing', by the time construction reached the top of the tower brick or stone work.

Our cottage is in a terrace of 40 odd weavers cottages, started in 1798 by a co-operative of owner/builders. Some of the loft/roof spaces are accessible via a small hatch, others were not and over the years various bat colonies have moved into the sealed/inaccessible roof spaces. As residents we always make sure that builders doing roof works or gutter replacement are informed and any 'holes' in the eaves are left well alone. Sadly it could be due to some 'do gooder' sealing an entry point to keep the rain out that trapped these bats. Then again, there is much irresponsible use of pesticides these days.

That's a bit special. Thank you. A pity that the congregation has withered away.

The Fourth Commandment as written there, indicates one reason why. In a mechanised world we don't need hundreds of workers toiling on the land and needing suitably placed Churches for Sunday Worship with their families.

 

[Rubex]

Beautifully captured Rubex. Let's hope it stays so pristine.

Thank you HughieD! So do I I bunged a few notes in the box on the way out.

Fantastic shots as always Rubex, especially with the natural light shining through.

I love this church; it's my second favourite to Duxford.

That's a bit special. Thank you. A pity that the congregation has withered away.

Thank you Mearing

Our cottage is in a terrace of 40 odd weavers cottages, started in 1798 by a co-operative of owner/builders. Some of the loft/roof spaces are accessible via a small hatch, others were not and over the years various bat colonies have moved into the sealed/inaccessible roof spaces. As residents we always make sure that builders doing roof works or gutter replacement are informed and any 'holes' in the eaves are left well alone. Sadly it could be due to some 'do gooder' sealing an entry point to keep the rain out that trapped these bats. Then again, there is much irresponsible use of pesticides these days.

I was thinking maybe that's how the bats died. I've emailed the Leicestershire & Rutland Bat Group so hopefully they will keep an eye on the place. Thank you for the information

 

[The Wombat]

I had no idea this place was disused.
Nice work Rubex

 

[Mearing]

Very nice set of images Rubex. Sadly the damp seems to be getting at the base of some pillars a bit more aggressively since I was last there. As to the spire - According to some old books on church architecture I have, it could all just be down to fashion. This church is not mentioned specifically, but the build dates tie in with other churches that did not have the original tower designs adhered to because spire like adornments suddenly were not the 'in thing', by the time construction reached the top of the tower brick or stone work.

Our cottage is in a terrace of 40 odd weavers cottages, started in 1798 by a co-operative of owner/builders. Some of the loft/roof spaces are accessible via a small hatch, others were not and over the years various bat colonies have moved into the sealed/inaccessible roof spaces. As residents we always make sure that builders doing roof works or gutter replacement are informed and any 'holes' in the eaves are left well alone. Sadly it could be due to some 'do gooder' sealing an entry point to keep the rain out that trapped these bats. Then again, there is much irresponsible use of pesticides these days.



The Fourth Commandment as written there, indicates one reason why. In a mechanised world we don't need hundreds of workers toiling on the land and needing suitably placed Churches for Sunday Worship with their families.

Yes, I'll go with that, as a young chap I worked on a threshing machine with a team often numbering six or seven workers plus the farm hands on the site, now one man with a combine harvester and a couple of tractors with trailers taking the grain do it all in a couple of days,and they have the bonus of not having to carry two and a quarter hundredweight sacks of grain on their backs all day!

 

[prettyvacant71]

These are wonderfully composed images Rubex, it really shows that you have spent some time in there thinking about how to capture the place Some really fab angles, totally caught the spirit of the church! That skeleton carving most unusual, I like it! Love the light on the stained glass windows too.
So sad about them poor little bats, I've never seen them so close up, beautiful ears, shame that.
Really enjoyed this...thanks

 

[BoneDust]

Wonderful pictures. I'm not sure if it's the carving of the king or the bishop but one of them has a bat guano hat!