Parish Church Of St Andrew

The parish church of St Andrew dates primarily to the 13th century, with a cruciform plan. The tower was rebuilt in the 14th century, and the south porch is of the same period. Significant restoration took place in 1874-5; the chancel was designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott, while the nave and aisles were redesigned in 1857 by F.W. Bodley, executed in a neo Early English style. The church is constructed of limestone ashlar and Barnack limestone, with rendered limestone rubble for interior walls, and features plain tile and lead roofs.

The south elevation displays a clerestory with four circular, foiled windows. The aisle has a plain parapet with two, three-light windows featuring vertical tracery. A two-centred arched south porch has two chamfered orders. The transept has angle buttresses, and the traces of original lancet windows are blocked and replaced by a large 15th-century three-light window. The chancel features a single and two double-lancet windows. The two-stage tower has a plain parapet and angle buttresses, with a belfry window of two trefoiled lights containing a quatrefoil and the weathering marks of an earlier roof.

Inside, the chancel has a barrel roof and an east window with stepped lancets. The chancel and tower arches are two-centred, dating to the 13th century, with semi-octagonal responds and what appears to be a black and white, painted chevron decoration to the chamfers. The transept roofs were restored with two bays. Fine 13th-century arcades with two-centred arches, deeply moulded and supported on shafts with bell capitals and bases—some with interlacing moulding and mask stops to the labels—are found within the transepts. Matching double piscine are also present. Most of the windows were replaced in the 15th century, except for the original lancets found in the east window of the south transept. The nave has two bays with octagonal piers and responds with moulded caps and bases. The aisles have restored 15th-century roofs of six bays, also with octagonal piers and responds displaying moulded caps and bases. A medieval south door is present and the font is from the 14th century, featuring panels of quatrefoils. A 19th-century lectern is carved with an angel holding an eagle book rest. Stained glass is by Mayer of Munich and Clayton and Bell, dating from 1872. The transepts are believed to have been the work of the same designer who created St John's Hospital in Cambridge. A wooden east chancel wall was noted by Wm Cole in 1745. Some materials from the now-demolished St Etheldreda church were reportedly reused during the restoration. The original, low-pitched 15th-century nave roof was removed after restoration and relocated to No. 10 Church Street; it is deeply moulded and features stop-chamfered spine beams with run-out stops.