The destroyed church, like so many other 'old' churches, were formerly Catholic property, thus it had been blessed and sanctified at some point in its early history, by a Catholic Bishop.
Vicar Jacqueline Stober told BBC: "I'm absolutely devastated. It's a terrible thing that has happened.
"It's an absolutely beautiful church. This year we were planning on celebrating its 700th anniversary but we had to delay that because of Covid.
"I can guarantee that worship has happened here for a thousand years and there will be, in some form or other, worship here for the next one thousand years."
Local auctioneer Charles Hanson said he was "gutted" at learning of the blaze.
He tweeted: "I married here, loved ones are buried here. It has witnessed so much, survived so much, until this.
"I hope [it was] not a cruel act of arson."