Church Of St Andrew

CHURCH OF ST ANDREW, ROCHFORD

Parish Church. Mainly 15th and 16th century, with a 14th century north aisle. The thickness of the east wall of the nave and north wall of the west arcade suggest an earlier origin. The walls are constructed of ragstone rubble with flint and septaria in the chancel walls and squared rubble in the south aisle, porch and tower stair turret. The 15th and 16th century red brick west tower and north chapel feature timber framed and plastered double gabled roofs. The building underwent heavy 19th century restoration. Red plain tiled roofs throughout.

The chancel is probably 15th century, with a plinth and dressed angle buttresses and a buttress to the centre of the south wall. A partly restored 15th century east window of 5 cusped lights with vertical tracery over and a 2-centred head has a moulded label. A stone cross stands at the gable apex. Two 15th century style windows on the south wall each have 2 pointed lights with quatrefoils over under square heads, one set with labels bearing foliate stops and the other with king and queen stops.

The south aisle has a plinth with flint and ragstone diapered crenellations and a moulded band beneath carrying gargoyles. An east wall window has 3 cinquefoiled lights with vertical tracery and moulded labels. Two 15th century cinquefoiled lights under square heads with labels occupy the south wall, with the south porch between them. The south porch has crenellations and a band matching the aisle, with east and west windows similar to those in the aisle wall. A 2-centred archway entrance has 2 moulded orders, the outer continuous and the inner resting on attached shafts with moulded capitals and bases, all under a moulded label. Moulded corbels occupy each angle. A 15th century inner doorway has moulded jambs, a 2-centred arch and label. The south aisle west wall contains a 14th century cinquefoiled ogee light in a square head. A clerestorey runs along the north and south walls with a moulded cornice and 3 late 19th and early 20th century round-headed windows each with different tracery and stopped labels.

The west tower is 15th and 16th century red brick with black diapering. It is crenellated with a raised octagonal stair turret to the south east, the latter having a ragstone base. Stone coping tops the crenellations. A plinth with a stone band runs across. The tower rises in 3 stages with buttresses to each face of the angles and bands between stages. Each wall of the bell chamber has a stone window of 2 cinquefoiled lights in a square head with labels above. The second stage has restored brick windows: single light windows with 2-centred heads on the north, south and west; a west window of stone has 3 cinquefoiled lights with vertical tracery over, a 2-centred head and label. Below this window is a rectangular sunk panel with a moulded label containing a stone shield of arms displaying "a chief indented" for Butler, Earl of Ormonde. The west doorway is of stone with moulded jambs, a 4-centred arch and label. The octagonal stair turret has slit lights at various stages.

The north aisle has angle and two centre buttresses. Right and left windows have 2 cusped and moulded ogee lights under square heads with labels. A west wall window has 2 trefoiled lights in a square head with moulded label, partly of brick. A blocked 14th century north doorway lies between the two centre buttresses with moulded jambs and a 2-centred head. Recessed to the east is a 19th century window of 2 cinquefoiled lights with quatrefoils over, a moulded square head and label with king and queen stops.

The north chapel is of stone with some brick, with a plinth and angle and central buttresses to the north wall. Double jettied gables have timber bressumers, collars and vertical studs. A stone east wall window has 3 pointed lights in a segmental head with a moulded label. Two north wall windows have 2 simple square-headed lights with labels above. An octagonal chimney stack rises to the western roof. A western doorway is moulded stone with a 4-centred arch and moulded label.

INTERIOR

The chancel has a 19th century boarded barrel vaulted roof with moulded wall plates and an 18-light candle chandelier. Four shields of arms adorn each of the north and south walls. The east and south windows contain 19th century stained glass. A stone crenellated reredos stands at the east end. A squint opens from the north wall of the sanctuary. A piscina has a cinquefoiled arch with label cut back and a 4-centred head with chamfered jambs and a 19th century cill. The north doorway has moulded jambs and a 2-centred arch in a square head with quatrefoiled spandrels enclosing small heads and a label with one headstop. A wall memorial above the north door commemorates Rev. J. Wise (1814). Three early 16th century memorial plaques occupy the south wall. Circa 1700 wooden altar rails with twisted balusters remain. Scratching on the jamb of the south west window is inscribed "Samuel Purkis 1642". A tall narrow 2-centred arch opens to the south west wall. A chambered moulded 4-centred arch is to the north west. A 19th century 2-centred chancel arch has 19th century mosaic above.

The nave has a 19th century roof of 3 bays. Stone corbels support wall posts from which spring moulded arched braces forming round-headed arches to collars. Intermediate principals have collars. Double side purlins and a ridge board complete the structure. Chamfered arches top the clerestorey windows. North and south arcades of 3 bays have chamfered 2-centred arches with moulded capitals and bases to columns and responds. A 19th century stone octagonal pulpit has trefoiled 2-centred arches with roundels to spandrels and stone steps with brass rails. A wooden eagle lectern has 4 carved figures to the stem. A font has a moulded base, moulded band to stem, moulded soffit and rim, and a curved octagonal bowl.

The south aisle has a 3 bay lean-to roof with moulded arched braces supported by carved head corbels and a moulded centre purlin. A piscina in the south wall has moulded jambs and a rounded head. A blocked rood loft door to the north east wall has rebated jambs and a 2-centred head with a mason's mark. The windows contain 19th and early 20th century stained glass. A south wall memorial commemorates John Lodwick (1845). A west wall stair turret doorway has hollow chamfered jambs and a 2-centred head. A nailed and boarded door with moulded band and muntins and strap hinges occupies this opening.

The north aisle has a 5 bay lean-to roof with stop chamfered principals. The windows contain stained glass. A small brass of a woman in a pedimented head-dress praying, Mary Dilcok (1514), lies below the north western window. A 1914–18 War Memorial on the north wall commemorates Captain H. Clifford RFC, killed defending London from air attack on 7 March 1918. An east window has 2 cinquefoiled ogee lights with tracery over. The tower arch is a 2-centred arch of 3 chamfered orders, the inner with moulded capitals and bases. High up in the south wall is a blocked segmental stone arch.

The north chapel has a north wall said to contain a fireplace with hollow chamfered jambs and a 4-centred arch in a square head. A large recess with a 4-centred head on the south wall is now partly blocked. A hatchment hangs above the door into the chancel.

The south porch roof has 2 stone corbels on the east and west walls supporting arched braces to a centre purlin. An east wall contains a coffin lid with moulded edges and a raised cross, probably 13th century.