Chipstable Parish Church

Chipstable Church.     All Saints                    

The Church is delightfully situated at the centre of a peaceful village, set among green hilly pasture and woodland coves.

The first Rector of whom we have mention is "Stephen, Parson of Cyppestable" in 1248, but he was by no means the first, as the Doomsday Book  notes a Church at Cipestable in the time of King Edward.

The old nave and the present tower probably date from about 1239, the external evidence furnished by the tower points to this date.

The present Nave of the Church (rebuilt in 1869) stands precisely where the old Nave Stood, and is thus practically a reproduction of it. The Tower and two of the main pillars were retained, and the form of the Church then, as now, was twin aisle. The beautifully carved oak bench ends were also retained.

Both the old and the newer parts of the Church are in the Decorated and Perpendicular styles. In the rebuilding of the Twin Aisle, Chancel and Porch, building stone of the neighbourhood was used supplementing the usable material from the old Church.