Church Of St Andrew

Church of St Andrew

Parish church of mid-15th-century date, comprising a nave with north aisle, chancel, west tower, and south porch. A 19th-century north vestry was added later. The walls are built of flint rubble with limestone and clunch dressings, and the roofs are tiled in red.

The chancel features a 19th-century arcade of two bays in its north wall. The south wall contains two two-light cinquefoiled windows with a quatrefoil set within a four-centred head; between them is a doorway with chamfered jambs, a two-centred arch, and a moulded label. The east window has five cinquefoil lights with tracery above in a four-centred head. Angled buttresses flank the east wall, and a two-stage buttress projects from the south wall. A timber truss replaces the chancel arch, featuring curved braces, foliated spandrels, and wall posts with moulded capitals. Above the base corbels (which are foliated) stands a king post above the collar. The roof comprises seven cants with collars and has crenellated and trefoiled wall plates.

The north vestry has a three-light east window with ogee heads and tracery, and a two-light window with a flat head in its north wall. A diagonal buttress reinforces the north-east corner.

The nave's north arcade contains three bays with two-centred arches; the eastern arch dates from the mid-16th century and originally opened into a north transept. The south wall displays three late-15th-century two-light windows with tracery and two-centred heads. The roof has seven cants with scissor bracing over crenellated and moulded wall plates. A modern south doorway sits between the two western windows.

The north aisle incorporates the former north transept. Its north wall has two late-15th-century three-light windows beneath flat heads, with a 15th-century segmental arch between the second and eastern bays. The west wall contains a three-light 19th-century window. Externally, traces of a former window and doorway remain visible. The roof of the east bay spans three bays with moulded main timbers, principals with curved braces and foliate bosses; the remaining roof has moulded main timbers and plain spandrels, with a chevroned wall plate to the arcade.

The west tower dates to the late 15th century and comprises three stages with crenellations. A south-east stair turret with a gargoyle projects to the west. The west wall has a two-light window with tracery above, and pointed louvre openings appear in the south wall and above the west window. Each wall of the belfry contains two-light openings with a quatrefoil set in two-centred heads. Six-stage buttresses reinforce each corner. The tower arch is two-centred with three chamfered orders. A doorway in the south wall has chamfered jambs, a two-centred head, and a moulded label.

The south porch dates to the late 15th century. Its entrance arch is two-centred with two hollow chamfered orders, the inner order resting on circular shafts with moulded bases and crenellated capitals. Trefoiled light windows occupy the east and west walls. The roof has seven cants with crenellated and trefoiled wall plates.

Interior fittings of particular note include chancel stalls dating to the 15th or 16th century—five on each side with grotesque and foliated misericords. Their fronts feature foliate scroll-mouldings and traceried panels, with two standards carved with figures of a seated king and a monk. These are the only such stalls surviving in Essex apart from those at Castle Hedingham. An octagonal font has two plain sides and six decorated sides: two with saltires and four with shields bearing sunk panels.

Monumental brasses commemorate Elizabeth, wife of John Buckenham then William Golding (died 1591), shown with two groups of children, and William Golding (died 1587), depicted in plate armour with two groups of children. Floor slabs record Freere son of Christopher Layer (1654), Susanna wife of Christopher Layer (1669), and Christopher Layer (1671). A 19th- or 20th-century brass plaque in the transept commemorates Arthur Golding (born 1536, died 1606), scholar, translator, and poet who lived at Pauls Hall; his translations of the classics were used by Shakespeare. The chancel contains 19th-century wall plates dedicated to the Pemberton family, including one to Francis Pemberton (1749) with an achievement. Additional monuments include a floor slab for John Spalding (1779) and a tablet of 1811 by J. Challis of Braintree. Sedilia are present in the chancel.