Parish Church Of St Andrew

The parish church of St Andrew, dating possibly from the 12th century, has undergone significant changes and restoration in the 14th, 15th, and 19th centuries. The structure is built of flint and pebble rubble with limestone and clunch dressings, and has gabled roofs covered with peg tiles. It comprises a nave with a north aisle, a long chancel, a west tower, and a modern south porch.

The nave may retain fabric from the 12th century, but largely incorporates an early 14th-century arcade of three bays with two-centred arches of two chamfered orders. The columns are octagonal, and the responds have attached columns with plain bases and moulded capitals. Two early 16th-century windows are set into the south wall, each consisting of three cinquefoiled ogee lights. To the west is an early 14th-century doorway with continuous rich mouldings and a two-centred arch. The north aisle has 15th-century windows of three cinquefoiled lights in the east, west, and north walls. A blocked early 14th-century doorway with chamfered jambs and a two-centred head is also found in the north wall. The roof is from the 19th century. A 15th-century rood stair turret is situated at the south-east angle, featuring a four-centred-headed door.

The chancel includes a moulded 14th-century internal string course. The east window is a 19th-century restoration, while two 14th-century windows with two trefoiled lights and plain spandrels are set into the north wall, alongside the remains of what appears to be a former vestry. A blocked door, both internally and externally (approximately 8 feet above the present ground level), is visible within the chancel. The south wall contains three similar early 14th-century windows with trefoiled spandrels, as well as a much-restored doorway. Inside the south wall there is a 14th-century sedilia and double piscina featuring moulded capitals and Purbeck marble shafts. The chancel arch, also from the 14th century, is two-centred and of two chamfered orders with attached semi-octagonal shafts with plain bases and moulded bell capitals, and has been restored. The roof, dating to around 1500, comprises six bays with moulded butt purlins and arched braced collars; the spandrels are filled with tracery, and figures of angels with shields or instruments of the passion are positioned at the feet of the braces.

The west tower, built in the 15th century, has two stages and an embattled parapet, with a plinth of flint and stone chequerwork. A 14th-century doorway has been converted into a tower arch, and a 17th-century window of two rectangular lights is located in the east wall. A plain loop is in the west wall of the lower storey of the second stage. The bell chamber has 15th-century windows of two cinquefoiled lights with a quatrefoil in a two-centred head, in the east, north, and south sides, with one window in the south wall featuring uncusped lights and varied tracery.

The font, dating from around 1500 and located in the nave, has an octagonal bowl and stem; the stem has blind tracery, and the bowl includes depictions of angels, shields, and a “wild man.” The church is designated Grade I for its architectural, historic, and landscape significance.