Church Of St Andrew

The Church of St Andrew is a medieval parish church largely rebuilt in the 1890s by Sir A. Blomfield. The church is constructed mainly of random rubble with ashlar dressings, although some coursed rubble walling is visible on the south wall of the chancel. The late 14th-century, buttressed west tower has four stages, featuring 2-light traceried openings to the bell chamber, a west door, and a 2-light traceried window above, complete with corbel heads to the hoodmould and a decorated frieze below an embattled parapet. The nave, dating from 1890 and comprising four bays, has random rubble with sandstone dressings and curvilinear tracery to the windows, the southeast window exhibiting a stilted arch. The chancel retains significant medieval masonry, revealing two distinct building phases in the south wall, alongside a 2-light reticulated traceried window with shafts, a blocked wide lancet window, a Victorian Y-tracery lancet, and a south door and east wall and window all dating from 1890.

The interior is plain and largely from 1890, but contains a fine collection of memorials belonging to the Packe family and their predecessors, principally within the chancel. These include two late 15th-century alabaster tomb chests, one commemorating Sir Richard Nele and Isabel his wife (1476), and the other featuring two recumbent and unidentified female figures. A wall tomb is dedicated to Sir William Skipwith and Jane his wife (1631), featuring a large recessed monument in various marbles within a double tomb aedicule, with the two recumbent figures lying on different levels and displaying an ornate, mannerist style. The monument to Christopher Packe of Cotes, who died in 1682 and was the first Packe to acquire the hall in 1653, portrays a semi-reclining figure on a tomb chest with an inscription and pediment above, exhibiting a Baroque style. The memorial to Charles Hussey Packe, who died in 1842 aged 15, is a marble recumbent figure by Westmacott Jr., alongside various other memorials by noted 18th and 19th-century sculptors.

The church is historically significant as it represents one of the few remaining traces of the medieval village of Prestwold, which was destroyed during estate enclosure. A previous restoration in 1743 resulted in a nave constructed in a classical style, featuring round-headed windows, oculi, and a south door set within an architrave; photographs of this earlier form are preserved within the church and depict high pews, a gallery, and a double-decker pulpit, though no physical remnants of these features remain in the fabric of the building.