Church Of St Andrew

The Church of St Andrew is an Anglican parish church with a history spanning the 13th to 19th centuries, located on Warminster Road in South Newton. The original chancel dates from the 13th century, with further development in the 14th and 15th centuries. The west tower was rebuilt in 1861 by T.H. Wyatt. Constructed primarily from flint and limestone, the church features a tiled roof.

The church’s plan incorporates a nave, a north aisle, a chancel, a south vestry, a south porch, and a west tower. A 19th-century timber-framed gabled porch, faced with flint nogging, sits on the south side, exhibiting diamond-leaded side windows and a shouldered inner doorway with a round-arched tympanum. The south side of the nave is adorned with two-light, cusped windows in a 16th-century style, each featuring a hoodmould. Attached to the right is a gabled vestry of the 19th century, distinguished by a pointed, moulded doorway with shafts and a hoodmould including foliated capitals, and a chamfered lancet window to its side. The chancel displays a pair of 13th-century lancets on both the north and south sides, with angle buttresses at the east end. A unique feature is the three stepped lancets, united by a continuous hoodmould with foliated and carved head terminals. An attached lean-to organ chamber on the north side has a pair of lancets and a slate roof.

The north aisle is characterized by its pitched roof and a series of windows, including a group of three trefoiled lancets, a single trefoiled lancet, and a 15th-century two-light Perpendicular window. The west end of the aisle presents a 19th-century two-light plate tracery window, set-back buttresses, and a shouldered doorway leading to a basement. The three-stage west tower features set-back buttresses, string courses, and a variety of lancet and Perpendicular windows. The tower is topped by a moulded string course, a plain parapet with gargoyles, and a pyramidal tiled roof.

The interior reveals a nave with a three-bay arch-braced collar truss roof supported by stone foliated corbels and flagstone floors. The north aisle contains a 13th-century cylindrical east pier and a 14th-century octagonal compound pier. A 13th-century style tower arch is defined by Purbeck marble shafts; a matching style chancel arch is distinguished by foliated corbels and short marble shafts. 19th-century pointed arches provide access to the organ chamber and vestry. Notable internal features include polychrome tiled flooring, painted inscriptions and symbols on the walls, a 13th-century-style piscina on the north wall, and a 1951 panelled wooden reredos. The church includes 19th-century pews, an octagonal font, and a pulpit. Significant stained glass exists in the east window (by Lavers and Barraud), and in the north and south chancel windows, with further glass depicting the Penruddocke family. Numerous wall tablets are present, including examples by Mitchard of Sarum, commemorating Ellen Ford (died 1851), Sarah Blackmore (died 1849), and John Flooks (died 1844). The church was rebuilt at a cost of £1,500.