The plowman's church.

Here, in the shadow of the glories of neighbouring Denston, All Saints is a surprisingly large church. As we approach, the most striking survivals are a fine pair of decorated niches either side of the east window, as at Cotton, and a superb roodloft stair turret, rising above the roofline and surmounted by battlements, as at Clare. These are signs that the Victorians were gentle with All Saints.

This is partly because it was such a poor place then, which also explains Denston's survival. This is a church of the common people, where the plowman and the sheepboy came to worship.

Inside, the roof is delightful; if you look closely, you can see excellent carvings, including a dragon attacking a tower, from which a woman looks out.

An image niche containing a modern madonna marks the site of a chantry altar for the guild of St Mary. The piscina that served the altar can be seen beside it, beneath the window.

Another madonna, in the form of a relief, leans in a window splay between the two war memorials. These are both to the First World War, which may seem surprising; but one was probably brought here from elsewhere, perhaps a demolished parish hall. I have come across this several times in Suffolk.

There are some good surviving consecration crosses, and panels of the medieval screen built into the modern one, with fascinating carvings. Mortlock thought that the tracery on the front pews probably came from the vanished rood loft.

On this April day, the church was full of triffid-like heaters, which rather took away the sense of the numinous, but are no doubt of practical value.