Church Of St Andrew

Church of St Andrew

This is a parish church of the late 14th and early 15th centuries, restored in 1869 by F W Preedy. It is built of field and rubblestone with considerable areas of Barnack limestone ashlar and Barnack dressings. The roofs are plain tiled with end parapets and gable crosses.

The church comprises a west tower, nave with north and south aisles, south porch, chancel and north vestry.

The west tower dates to the late 14th and 15th centuries. It is four stages in height, built on a splayed plinth with quatrefoil bands carried round the four-stage angle buttressing, which becomes polygonal in the upper stages. The west doorway has a two-centred arch of three ogee-moulded orders divided by slender embattled shafts in a square head with dagger cusping to the spandrel. The drip mould has male and female mask stops. The west window has been restored. The second stage contains a window of two lights with drop tracery to each side. The bell stage has three lancet openings with inset circles above. The tower is embattled. Four broaches form an octagon, probably intended as the base for a proposed spire. This octagon is also embattled. The tower is completed by a further octagon, embattled and having crocketted pinnacles at the corners. A clock is set into the west face of the lower octagon.

The nave has on each side a clerestory of five windows, each of two trefoil lights in two-centred arch. The clerestory is embattled and the moulded main cornice features beast gargoyles. The south aisle has five late 14th-century windows of three cinquefoil lights each in two-centred arch with flowing tracery. Similar windows appear at each end of the aisle. The aisles are also embattled and have gargoyles.

The south porch is contemporary with the south aisle. It comprises two storeys, including a parish room on the upper floor. A newel stair turret is located in the north west corner. The porch has an embattled parapet and two-stage angle buttressing. The moulded main cornice features corner beast gargoyles. The cornice and splayed plinth moulding continue round from the south aisle. The parvise room has in each wall a two-light window with cinquefoil cusping to the head. The south doorway has a two-centred outer arch with three moulded orders. The inner wave moulding is carried on three clustered columns with moulded capitals enriched with fleurons and moulded bases. The interior is in two bays and has tierceron vaulting on shafts continuous from the base, with boss enrichments including the arms of Bishops Barnet, Arundel and of York at the intersections.

The chancel has two-stage buttressing on the south side. The south wall contains three windows of three cinquefoil lights with decorated tracery. A south doorway has a two-centred hollow and ogee-moulded arch with label. The east window, restored, is in a two-centred arch of five cinquefoil lights divided by a transome. The lower lights have cinquefoil drop cusping and the upper stage has similar cusping in ogee heads with flowing tracery.

Interior

The south doorway inner arch is two-centred with three continuous hollow and roll-moulded orders. The tower arch is two-centred with polygonal shafts with embattled capitals. The tower hall carries a tierceron vault of wood with an octagonal bell rope opening.

The nave arcade comprises six bays. The arches are two-centred with a continuous hollow-moulded outer order and ogee-moulded inner order, springing from lozenge-shaped piers with engaged columns to the east and west faces. A continuous hood moulding with beast stops runs throughout. The roof is 19th century, mounted on original carved stone corbels.

The north and south aisles and chancel have blind arcading to the walls corresponding with that of the nave arcade, comprising two-centred hollow-moulded arches on moulded bases. In the south east corner of the south aisle is a piscina with a niche above, now mutilated, featuring a vaulted roof and seated figure, also mutilated.

The chancel arch is two-centred with a continuous hollow outer moulding and ogee inner moulding on engaged columns with moulded capitals and bases. A rood loft staircase is located to the north of the chancel arch. The chancel has a 19th-century roof now carried on original corbels carved with demi-angels. In the east wall flanking the altar are two niches with subcusped ogee heads and running foliate ornament. Above is a corbel table for a statue.

The font has an octagonal bowl on a modern base, with fleurons to the soffit of the bowl.