Church Of St Andrew

Church of St Andrew, Deal

Parish church built in 1850 by Ambrose Poynter in Early English style. The chancel was extended and vestries added in matching style in 1865, with some fittings added in 1889. The building is constructed of Kentish ragstone with Caen stone dressings and a tiled roof. It comprises a five-bay nave and aisles, a three-bay chancel with side chapels, and a south-west tower with spire and entrances beneath it and to the north-east.

The three-stage tower with buttresses incorporates eight medieval gargoyles thought to have been salvaged from either St Mary's in Reculver or St Mary's in Sittingbourne, both undergoing restoration in 1849. The bell stage has a double trefoil window with a quatrefoil above and wooden louvres. The second stage features a trefoliated lancet, and below is an arched doorcase with ornamental hinges. A stone spire with lucarnes and a metal weathercock rises above. The west front has a large central gable with a blocked window containing three circular motifs and an arched doorcase below it. A left-side gable features a lancet window. The pantiled roofs have two gabled dormers to the aisles. Aisle windows are double lancets with quatrefoils above. The south aisle east front displays a large arched window with a flanking lancet and trefoil windows. The chancel has a large arched window with three lancets and three trefoils set in circles above, with buttresses. On the north aisle roof apex stands an octagonal stone fisherman's lantern, thought to have been lit in poor weather to help boats find their bearings. The north aisle also has a cinquefoil window and three trefoliated lancets below. An entrance to the north-east features a Caernarvon-arched door.

The interior has an arcade with pointed arches and octagonal Caen stone columns. The nave has an arch-braced roof with a central kingpost and wider curved queen struts on stone corbels, and is boarded. The western bay contains a wooden gallery with the Royal Coat of Arms, originally a boatmen's gallery where fishermen would sit during services but now used as the organ gallery. The aisles have a similar roof to the nave but without the central kingpost. A stone font in the north aisle is octagonal with carved panels on an octagonal base and a wooden font cover with finial. Original box pews remain. The floor is Portland stone. An elaborate octagonal carved pulpit from 1889 features painted panels of saints and a central carving of St Andrew with his cross. The Lady Chapel contains a carved wooden altar from 1889 with a central Virgin and Child flanked by angels, and two painted panels depicting the Shepherds and the Wise Men. A wooden chancel arch on stone columns is fashioned to resemble the upturned prow of a ship, reflecting that St Andrew is the patron saint of fishermen and that fishing was the major industry of Deal in the 19th century. The chancel has an arch-braced roof, originally with painted decoration and a band of fretted decoration to its base. Carved choirstalls and seats are present. The south-east wall contains an aumbry, piscina and sedilia. The sanctuary features four tiled murals by Alexander Gibbs depicting the Wedding at Cana, the Feeding of the Five Thousand, Moses and Manna, and the Coming of Pentecost. A full set of stained glass windows by Alexander Gibbs completes the interior decoration.