Church Of St Andrew

ILKETSHALL ST. ANDREW SCHOOL ROAD TM 38 NE 2/14 Church of St. Andrew 1.9.53 - I Parish church. C12, C14 and C15. Nave, chancel, south porch and west tower. In rubble flint, with the remains of old render; coursed rubble to the lower stages of the tower; freestone dressings. C20 plaintiled roofs. The round tower has a later octagonal top stage, in which plain arched window openings alternate with traceried flushwork panels simulating 2-light windows; crenellated parapet, also with flushwork. One Norman slit window in the north wall of the nave and a lancet in the north wall of the chancel; the remainder, 2-light-Perpendicular windows to nave, 2- and 3-light to chancel. Diagonal buttresses at east end. Early Tudor red brick 2-storied porch with a moulded depressed arch and diagonal buttresses. The rebuilt upper part is in flintwork, with a reinstated statue of St. Andrew above the doorway. Inside, a flat timber ceiling, holy water stoup, and a turret stair for the upper room in the south-east corner. The north and south doorways are both Norman: plain on the north, and on the south with one order of shafts, cushion capitals, moulded abaci, enriched zig-zag ornament round the arch, and an old studded door. Interior with a pointed early C14 tower arch and no chancel arch. 2 shallow niches in the south wall of the nave and another below the Norman slit window in the north wall. The arms of Charles II carved in wood above the tower arch. C15 octagonal font: each face of the bowl has a shield surrounded by a cusped circle, and the 2-tier base has small clustered pilasters. Hexagonal pulpit of circa 1700 with a shaped base and panels with very late Jacobean-style decoration. C15 nave roof in 9 bays, with the common rafters replaced in 7 of them: arched brace form, the solid collars immediately below the apex with a hanging central boss and braces to the ridge-piece. Braces, collars, purlins and wall-posts are all moulded, and along the wall between the trusses are solid arched braces with carving in the spandrels. The chancel roof, in 4 bays, is in the same style, and appears to be a C19 copy. The front 4 pairs of benches in the nave have panelled backs: one is dated 1617 with initials S.A.; 3 early C16 benches in the chancel have fine poppyheads, with signs of Renaissance influence. One C16 bench in the nave is richly carved, with the name John Bonsey. A blocked recess in the south wall of the chancel has a flamboyant ogee arch to its head. C17 altar rails with carved balusters and moulded handrail. In the south-east corner, a simple piscina with cavetto moulding to the pointed arch. The nave is paved with old floor bricks.

Listing NGR: TM3791387238