Church Of St Andrew

Church of St Andrew, Bredfield

This is a church of medieval origin with substantial 19th-century restoration. The building is constructed of knapped flint and rubble flint with ashlar dressings, and includes sections of brick, with plain tile and slate roofs. It comprises a western tower, nave, chancel, north-western porch, and south-eastern vestry, dating from the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries, with major works undertaken around 1839 and around 1875 by R M Phipson.

The western tower features a striking west face of rubble and knapped flint. A slightly projecting plinth is inset with panels of flushwork comprising circles with quatrefoils to their lower bodies and paired mouchettes above. Other patterns, including crowned Ms, are incomplete and appear only in inscribed outline in the ashlar. A moulded offset sits above this. Diagonal buttresses flank the corners, their outer faces decorated with panels of flushwork tracery featuring trefoil heads arranged in a pattern of two by two panels to each face, repeated after each offset. The central ground floor doorway has a moulded surround of hollow chamfers and wave moulds with a hood mould. Above this is a two-light Perpendicular window with cinquefoil heads. The buttresses die back into the corners below the level of the belfry stage, where a string course supports the belfry window of two Perpendicular lights with trefoil heads. Ashlar quoins mark the corners. The parapet projects slightly and is constructed of brick with stepped gables and panels of flushwork tracery. Polygonal pinnacles at the corners have been reduced in height but probably once bore mace finials. The northern and southern faces have similar belfry openings with blank walling below. The south face includes a lancet window with a chamfered ashlar surround. The plinth here features arcades of flushwork in the form of cusped lancets. The east face abuts the nave at its lower body but contains a similar belfry opening.

The nave has a slate roof. Its north front features a projecting porch, slightly to the right of centre and mostly refaced in the 19th century with a plain tiled roof. The gabled south front has diagonal buttresses. A central doorway has an ashlar chamfered surround. Lancet windows on the side walls have square hood moulds. To the right is a 19th-century Perpendicular window of two lights with cinquefoil heads. A similar three-light window sits to the left. Buttresses flank either side of the porch and extend to the far left. The south face has three buttresses positioned right, left of centre, and right of centre. Two 19th-century Perpendicular windows occupy this face: the left has two lights, the right has three lights, both with similar patterns to those on the north face. A doorway to the left of centre, now blocked, has a chamfered ashlar surround.

The chancel has a lower ridge and plain tile roof. Its north face contains a two-light early-Perpendicular window at right with ogee cinquefoil heads and mouchettes to the apex. A priest's door sits to the left with a four-centred head and chamfered ashlar surround with broach stops. A buttress stands to the extreme left. The south front is mostly obscured by a 19th-century gabled projecting vestry with a slate roof, ashlar quoins to the corners, and kneelers and coping to the gable. A central two-light Perpendicular window with cinquefoil heads is visible. The right-hand side wall contains a door with an ashlar surround.

Interior

The porch contains a two-bay hammer-beam roof with rounded ends to the wall posts and hammer beams. Arched braces join these two, featuring foliate motifs to their spandrels. Further arched braces rise in the central truss from the hammer beams and posts to connect with the collar. The richly moulded hammer posts and collar adjacent the nave wall may be planted timbers. A deep moulded cornice sits on either side, along with moulded purlins.

The nave roof comprises six bays and one-quarter bay at the west to accommodate the diagonal buttresses, the flanks of which project into the nave. Moulded wall posts, all obliquely cut at their lower ends, apparently once bore attached bosses. Four-centred arched braces run longitudinally and are halved against the wall surface, with floral motifs to their spandrels. Further four-centred arched braces with richly moulded edges rise from the wall posts to the hammer beams, which have richly moulded undersides and brattishing and open fleurons to their tops. The ends of the hammer beams are also obliquely cut and appear to have once carried bosses. Short, slightly recessed hammer posts support large four-centred arch braces connecting hammer posts and beams to the collar beams, which have moulded under-edges and brattished cresting and support square king posts. From these king posts spring four-centred arch braces which run along the chamfered ridge beam. A richly moulded cornice comprises six layers of decoration, combining brattishing, roll mouldings, filigree tracery with plank backing, and fleurons. Richly moulded purlins complete the arrangement. The two easternmost bays are painted to form a Canopy of Honour with chevron patterns to the common rafters and sacred monograms and flower decoration to the arched braces. The ridge and the underside of the topmost arched braces are also painted with chevrons. The cornice has gilding and colouring to its mouldings.

A rood loft staircase rises from the left-hand reveal of the south-eastern window, with the inner doorway featuring a cusped head. A Jacobean pulpit sits on a 19th-century base with arched and incised panels, accompanied by a 19th-century reading desk. The southern wall holds a piscina with chamfered surround and broach end stops, the bowl now filled. A brass of 1611 commemorates Leonard and Mary Farrington with weepers below, their six sons and two daughters, now mounted on the south wall.

The chancel has a 19th-century roof with common rafters, arch braces, collars, and ashlar posts. A wall monument of 1675 to Robert Marryott features black and white marble with a central recessed rectangular black tablet with a white aedicular surround. Roman Ionic pillars with black shafts and white capitals and bases support the monument. Below these is a ledge supported on console brackets between which an apron features a swag and coat of arms. An entablature to the top supports a scrolled pediment through which rises a cartouche with a coat of arms. A credence table formed from the tester of the pulpit features panels of incised decoration with acorn drops to the corners.