Church Of Saint Andrew

A parish church of Saxon origins, mentioned in Domesday Book and later developed as a collegiate foundation. The building comprises a 13th-century nave and tower, early 14th-century chancel, and a late 19th-century vestry. The nave and tower are constructed of dressed red sandstone with plain tile roofs, while the chancel is yellow and grey sandstone with a slate roof. The chancel was reroofed in 1852 and the church underwent partial restoration in 1880.

The church is arranged with a three-bay nave, south porch, two-bay chancel with north vestry, and a west tower.

The tower rises in three stages on a stepped, battered plinth. The lower two stages are strengthened by diagonal buttresses with moulded plinths and chamfered offsets. A later, probably 17th-century buttress with chamfered offsets stands to the south-east. A chamfered offset marks the belfry stage, above which runs a weathered string course supporting a battlemented parapet with moulded coping. The tower is crowned with a pyramidal cap and weathervane. The belfry contains two-light louvred openings with chamfered reveals. A probably 13th-century blocked moulded arched belfry light faces east. The west side has a louvred lancet in the second stage with chamfered reveals and hood-mould, and a lancet with solid tympanum in the first stage.

The nave stands on a chamfered plinth and is buttressed with chamfered offsets. The east end has a parapeted gable with stone coping and truncated finial. The south elevation features restored paired chamfered lancets to the left under a semi-circular relieving arch with hood-mould and carved stops. To the right are two windows: the left is a 19th-century pair of trefoil-headed chamfered lancets with returned hood-mould and semi-circular relieving arch; the right is a restored window with two trefoil-headed lights under a square head with chamfered reveals. A central 13th-century roll-moulded arched doorway with hood-mould is fitted with an old nail-studded boarded door bearing decorative wrought-iron strap hinges and a panel at the top carved with a Tudor rose and dated 1618. The south porch is stone-built with a plinth on each side, a parapeted gable with coping and cross at the apex, and a 19th-century chamfered archway with returned hood-mould and iron gates dated 1955. The porch contains a trussed-rafter roof.

The north elevation displays a restored window to the left with two ogee trefoil-headed lights, quatrefoil tracery, chamfered reveals and returned hood-mould. To the right are 19th-century paired lancets with hollow-chamfered reveals and hood-mould with carved stops. A blocked chamfered arched doorway lies to the right of the central buttress. A small 14th or 15th-century square-headed window of two trefoil-headed lights occupies the east wall.

The chancel stands on a chamfered plinth with angle buttresses to the east featuring chamfered offsets and chamfered eaves. The east end is a parapeted gable with coping. The south elevation has two windows of two trefoil-headed lights with quatrefoil tracery, hollow-chamfered reveals and continuous hood-mould. A central chamfered arched priest's doorway with hood-mould is fitted with a 19th-century nail-studded boarded door with strap hinges. The east window contains three ogee trefoil-headed lights with reticulated tracery, chamfered reveals and returned hood-mould.

The vestry is built of herringbone-tooled red sandstone ashlar with a plinth and chamfered eaves returning to the front gable. A north window of two trefoil-headed leaded lights sits under a square head. A boarded door leads down steps to a crypt. A truncated external stone lateral stack with chamfered offset stands to the left-hand return front.

Internally, the nave contains the remains of an incomplete 13th-century south arcade with double-chamfered arches and a capital at the centre, though the aisle is not visible externally. A small chamfered tower arch with a 19th-century half-glazed door is surmounted by a round relieving arch. The nave windows are fitted with 19th-century chamfered rear arches. A 13th-century triple-chamfered chancel arch, cut off at the base, marks the entrance to the chancel. The chancel's south windows have moulded rear arches, while the east window has a roll-moulded rear arch with fillet and hood-mould with carved stops. A 14th-century moulded ogee-arched piscina stands to the south with a plain hood-mould; a small aumbry is positioned to the north. The priest's doorway has a chamfered rear arch, and the vestry doorway is a chamfered arch with plain hood-mould.

The nave roof is a remarkable 15th-century structure of six bays featuring billet-ornamented moulded wall plates and ashlar pieces. The arched-braced trusses are ovolo-moulded with central carved bosses; cusped raking struts form cusped triangular openings, and pairs of purlins are braced with cusped wind braces. The collar and tie-beam end trusses incorporate king struts; the western truss is interrupted by the east buttress of the tower. The chancel roof is 19th-century, comprising two bays with moulded arched-braced collar trusses springing from bracketed tie-stubs and pairs of purlins.

The church's fittings are notable. Seventeenth-century altar rails feature turned balusters, large turned standards with finials, and a moulded rail. Nineteenth-century additions include choir stalls and an eagle lectern. A polygonal stone pulpit dated 1885 has a tapered stem, moulded base, cinquefoil side panels and billet-decorated top. A plain octagonal stone font dated 1850 retains its wooden cover. Early 20th-century pews have rounded ends. Wainscot panelling, some raised and fielded and probably from former 1775 box pews, lines the walls. A west gallery of 1765 stands on two square posts with raised and fielded panelling to the front and raking seating; it houses a 19th-century organ and displays a painted royal coat of arms with painted boards recording church wardens from 1800 and restoration in 1956. Painted benefactors' boards occupy the gallery. A hatchment hangs to the right of the chancel arch. Nineteenth-century encaustic tiles pave the sanctuary, and reset medieval floor tiles lie at the west end of the nave. Nineteenth-century stained glass appears in some windows. Various late 18th and early 19th-century memorial tablets are present, along with a circa 1850 Gothic tablet in the nave. An old sepia photograph on the south door shows the church interior in 1909 with box pews.