Parish Church of St Andrew

Parish Church of St Andrew

This is an Anglican parish church dating to the 15th century, with major restoration work undertaken around 1854 when the chancel was largely rebuilt and the north aisle was added (attributed to architect R H Shout), followed by further restoration in 1889.

The building is constructed of coursed Forest Marble rubble stone with freestone dressings. The chancel roof and south slope of the nave are leaded, the north slope is tiled, and the north aisle and porch are slated. The nave and aisle have separate gabled roofs with a valley gutter between them.

The plan comprises a three-bay nave, a much-rebuilt 19th-century chancel, a south porch, a west tower of three stages, and a north aisle dating to around 1854.

The exterior presents the general impression and massing of a Perpendicular church. The 15th-century tower is attached to the west end with a square stair turret at its north-east corner. It features diagonal buttresses, an embattled parapet with corner pinnacles, and string courses at the base of the parapet with carved gargoyles, as well as string courses at each stage and a moulded plinth. The two-light belfry windows have Perpendicular tracery and stone louvres. The main west window is of three lights with Perpendicular tracery, and its hoodmould is continuous with the string course. Below this, the west doorway has a pointed arch set in a square frame with spandrel carvings of three hanks of cord, a merchant's mark, and the letters TM.

The south wall of the nave, to the west of the porch, has a 19th-century Perpendicular three-light window with hoodmould and head stops. The gabled porch features a pointed arched doorway with hoodmould. To the east of the porch is a 15th-century two-light square-headed window with trefoiled lights, and beyond it a small rectangular high-level window to the rood loft, now blocked internally.

The two-bay chancel has 19th-century Perpendicular two-light windows with hoodmould and head stops in both the south and north walls. The east windows to the chancel and north aisle are 19th-century, comprising three lights in Perpendicular style with hoodmould and head stops. The north aisle has a moulded parapet and a moulded string course with carved gargoyles below, together with diagonal and intermediate buttresses. The north wall contains three windows with segmental pointed arches and Perpendicular-style tracery, hoodmoulds and head stops.

The interior is light, with rendered and painted walls and exposed stone dressings. The aisle features a three-bay arcade to the nave with broad four-centred arches on octagonal columns with moulded caps. Its east window, dating from 1900, depicts Christ with St Mary Magdalene. The aisle has a 19th-century arch-braced collar beam roof with carved stone corbels. The organ is accommodated in the south-west corner of the nave.

The east window to the nave depicts Christ between St Mary and St John and dates from around 1850; it was restored in 2009, as was the south chancel window. The chancel arch has continuous mouldings and caps. The chancel has a 19th-century trussed rafter roof with curved braces, while the nave has a 19th-century double arch-braced collar-beam roof. The tower arch is 15th-century and has continuous mouldings with no caps.

The principal fixtures include a 13th-century plain circular font with a tapering bowl set on a 19th-century base. The bench seating is mostly 19th-century, but includes three benches with shaped ends and terminals with spiral ornament, and others with plain square-headed ends that may date to the 16th century. The benches appear to have been moved over the years. One bench in the aisle has an elongated end carved with St Andrew and a poppy-head finial, reputedly from St Nicholas' Church, Hilfield.