Church Of St Andrew, Malmesbury Park

768/23/226 BENNETT ROAD 27-FEB-76 (North side) CHURCH OF ST ANDREW, MALMESBURY PARK

II

A church of 1891-1900 by Julius Alfred Chatwin & Sons of Birmingham, jointly with Bournemouth architect Sidney Tugwell. The chancel, nave and transepts were built between 1891-92 and the aisles, and an apsidal baptistry were added 1899-1900. The church is of rock-faced Purbeck stone with freestone dressings and red tiled roof. PLAN: High nave with lower passage aisles; low transepts; chancel; prominent baptistry with apse; west and east porches; vestry at north east end. EXTERIOR: It is in the Decorated style, buttressed with free Decorated and flamboyant window tracery, including a window of stepped triplet of trefoil-headed lancets to the chancel. Nave has clerestorey of 2-light tracery windows and high lancet windows at south end with single lancet windows to aisles. Prominent baptistry apse to south end with steeply pitched hipped tile roof. The porches have pointed arch with the drip mould terminating in carved rosettes, and pairs of timber doors with decorative iron hinges. Both transepts are of two bays with lancet windows. Vestry has mullioned and transomed windows of coloured glass. INTERIOR: The internal space is lined with polychromatic buff brick with dressings of ashlar and red brick. The chancel has a two-centred arch on foliage corbels and the north window lancets are recessed within a large blind arch with dogtooth ornament to the lancets. The nave has ashlar octagonal piers to arcades with stepped red brick arches and a clerestorey above. The baptistery arch has no capitals. There is a stone font with a carved bowl on a stem with shafts, and there are marble angel statues on corbels to each side of the font. The timber drum pulpit has two tiers of panelling and there are late C20 chairs in the nave. The crown post nave roof is carried on stone wall shafts. SUMMARY OF IMPORTANCE: Although rather conservative in its design for this date, the Church of St. Andrew is a competent church of 1891-92 with additions of 1899-1900. The interior detailing, especially the use of polychromatic buff brick with contrasting dressings of ashlar and red brick, is well handled and there have been few if any alterations. SOURCES: The Buildings of England. Hampshire (1967) N. Pevsner, 121