Church of St Andrew is a Grade I listed building in the East Suffolk local planning authority area, England. First listed on 27 November 1954. Church.
Church of St Andrew
- WRENN ID
- first-buttress-plum
- Grade
- I
- Local Planning Authority
- East Suffolk
- Constituency
- Suffolk Coastal MP: Jenny Riddell-Carpenter (Lab)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 27 November 1954
- Type
- Church
- Address
- Church of St Andrew, Covehithe
- OS grid reference
- TM 522 818
- Coordinates
- 52.37678, 1.7053
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The Church of St Andrew is a parish church with medieval origins, featuring a tower and the ruins of the nave, chancel, north and south aisles, and north sacristy, which indicate it was once a large and impressive structure. The current church was built in 1672 within the ruins of the nave. It is constructed from random flint rubble with stone dressings, incorporating much re-used material, along with some red brick and a thatched roof.
The early to mid-14th century tower is tall and consists of three principal stages topped with a crenellated parapet. It has diagonal buttresses on the west side and angle buttresses on the east. A cusped ogee opening is located at the ringing chamber level on the south side, although the tracery of the bell chamber openings is missing. The remaining medieval parts of the church date from the 15th century, although the surviving responds of the aisle arcades are from the 14th century.
The church features 7-bay aisles, with the south aisle being more complete, containing six intact window openings with small remnants of tracery. Both the aisles and chancel are faced with knapped flint, and the south aisle and chancel have a plinth of panelled and chequered flushwork. The chancel extends one bay east of the aisles and has very tall windows on the north and south sides, along with a large east window. The buttresses on the east wall include fine canopied statue niches, and some carved stone corbels that once supported the chancel roof still remain.
The 17th-century church features 2-light diamond-leaded windows divided by wooden mullions and segmental arches with raised stone keys, along with a 19th-century east window made of stone. There are re-used doorways, including a north doorway with an arch decorated with fleurons and a south doorway set within a gabled porch. Inside, inscriptions on the north and south walls read, 'James Gilbert put it out 1672' and 'Enoch Girling put it out 1672'. Notable interior features include a fine 15th-century carved octagonal font, three 15th-century poppyhead benches at the west end of the nave, and a carved pulpit that incorporates some 17th-century woodwork. The arms of George III can be found beneath the tower arch.
Local climate
Church of St Andrew receives an average of 780 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 60% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 79% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 7 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 95% of listed buildings. Of these, 5 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
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- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
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