Church Of St Andrew

The Church of St Andrew is a parish church dating back to the 12th century, with a chancel rebuilt in the 14th century. It was extensively refenestrated during the 15th and 16th centuries and restored in 1876 and 1888-90. The church is constructed of flint and rubble stone, generally rendered, with stone dressings and an old plain tile roof, topped by a shingled bellcote. The plan comprises a chancel and nave, with a 19th-century organ room and a south porch.

The chancel east window is a cinquefoiled 3-light window dating to the 15th century, with a traceried head and label, above an overhanging roof with a 19th-century truss. Stepped diagonal buttresses mark the corners. A blocked 15th-century window is positioned to the southeast, alongside a square-headed 2-light cinquefoiled window with a traceried head. A 2-light trefoiled window from the early 14th century sits to the west. A similar window is positioned opposite on the north side, while an east-facing 2-light cinquefoiled window with a quatrefoil in the head is situated centrally. A 14th-century priest’s door and a gabled 19th-century organ room with decorative lancets are also present. The nave features ogee-headed 2-light windows with quatrefoils in the heads on both sides of the east end. The south side contains a 19th-century gabled, rendered porch, and a pair of 14th-century pointed lancets at the west end. The west end has a continuously ogee-moulded 2-order door with a label. Above it is a 15th-century 3-light cinquefoiled window with tracery in the head and label, incorporating shield stops. The bellcote, set back from the roof gable, possesses 4-light bell openings and a hipped roof with a weathervane. Interior chancel windows have splayed rear arches, with a keel moulding adorning the center south window and a pointed north door.

Inside the chancel, the east window retains 15th-century stained glass, featuring restored larger figures, with intact glass in the traceried head and some in the heads of the side windows. An arch-braced roof with a moulded wall plate and tie beams is present. A 1584 monument comprises a tomb chest with four strapwork panels, above a plinth. An architrave row of kneeling figures and an inscription panel are situated inside, flanked by decorated Ionic pilasters supporting a decorated cartouche with two figure finials. A tablet commemorating Oliver Goodyer St John dates to 1804. Floor slabs include those commemorating William Sandys (1628), Francis Gofton (1684), Henry Cole (1695) and Catherine Jones (1770). A notable feature is the circa 1150 chancel arch, roundheaded with two orders; the inner order is square, while the outer order is roll-moulded and billeted with chevrons, resting on a cushion capital, plain shaft, and moulded base. The nave features splayed rear arches to the north windows and flat arches to the south windows. A plain 12th-century roundheaded south door leads into the vestry, later chamfered. A pointed west window and door are also present. An arched tomb recess is situated under the northeast window, while an ogee-arched recess lies beneath the southeast window. A rectangular niche is positioned to the southeast. The nave roof is plain, and the west bay contains three posts on each side supporting arch-braces for the bellstage, which houses five 17th-century bells. A memorial from 1693 commemorating the Meinertzhagen family, originally from Germany, is affixed to the south wall. The font, situated in the northwest corner, features a 12th-century square bowl on a 19th-century base. The furnishings are largely 19th-century, with the exception of an early 20th-century Jacobean altar and pulpit.