Church Of St Andrew

The Church of St Andrew is a small church dating from 1840-42. It was built for the Knottesford Fortescue family. While initially attributed to William Butterfield, this attribution is now disputed. The church is constructed of regular coursed lias stone with limestone ashlar dressings, and has tile roofs with coped gables. It is designed in the Early English style.

The church comprises an aisled nave and chancel, along with a north vestry. The nave has four bays and the chancel two. Features include angle buttresses and lancet windows with continuous hood moulds. The chancel east end features triple lancets with a string course at sill level and a quatrefoil above. Gable buttresses display finials. The roof incorporates a corbel table. A small north entrance is situated within a lean-to porch with an east window. The south aisle has four windows and an east window; the north aisle has only three windows. The nave and chancel share a single roof, while the aisles have lean-to roofs of a slightly lower pitch. The west entrance is framed by two lancets, featuring a chamfered arched doorway with a stilted outer arch and a plank door with ironwork. A string course extends above the door, forming a gable with a stiff-leaf finial. A pointed elliptical window sits above the doorway, encased in a moulded surround. A small, louvred wooden bellcote tops the gable. The far-projecting vestry, possibly a later addition, is set at a right angle to the north aisle, with a west door featuring a continuous hood mould and a north window. The east wall of the vestry is constructed of imitation ashlar cement.

Inside, the walls are plastered or whitewashed. The chancel incorporates two pairs of sedilia, a small elaborate niche with a trefoiled arch flanked by shafts and a gable supported on stiff-leaf clasped in a hand, and extensive stencilling and gilding on every surface, including a panelled wagon roof. Encaustic tile paving is present. The chancel arch rests on short colonette corbels. The nave features a four-bay arcade with two chamfered orders and round piers displaying four fillets. A west internal porch contains a gallery overlooking the west arch. The west wall of the aisles are richly painted and stencilled. The roof is a queen strut design with arched braces supported on colonnette corbels. The aisles are narrow and lower than the arcade. The walls are covered with monochrome scenes from the life of Christ, painted on zinc sheets, reputedly by the incumbent around 1870. Fittings include an arcaded stone altar, a carved stone pulpit with later monochrome paintings from around 1870, a cylindrical stone font with carved interlace ornament and elaborate ironwork on the lid. Stained glass is found in the east window (c.1857) and the south aisle east window (mid-19th century), exhibiting high-quality medieval-style craftsmanship. A Flemish relief dating from around 1520 is displayed on the west wall. The church represents a good, largely complete example of a Tractarian-influenced interior.