Church Of St Andrew

The Church of St Andrew is an Anglican parish church dating back to the 13th century, with significant alterations in the 15th century, a refit in 1633, repairs in 1755, and a restoration in 1936-8. It is constructed of flint with limestone dressings, and has tiled roofs. The church consists of a nave with a western bell turret, a chancel, and a north chapel, which now serves as a vestry at right angles to the nave. A south nave door features a chamfered round arch and a mass dial on the jamb. There are two-light square-headed trefoiled windows. The east chancel wall was rebuilt in 1755, incorporating a three-light window with a blind spandrel. A small timber window with an iron casement provides light to the pulpit. A chamfered north door leads to the chancel, and an east door to the vestry retains a cross-boarded 17th-century door and lock. The vestry was remodelled and raised in the 17th century, and has a five-light transomed window with ovolo moulding on its north side. The square bell turret is clad in shingles and has a pyramidal tiled roof. A benchmark is located on the south-west quoins.

The interior has a 19th-century trussed rafter roof, with a bracketed truss supporting the turret. Walls were whitewashed, obscuring earlier wall paintings. The chancel is divided off by a beam with a plastered spandrel above; brackets to the beam were removed. The 15th-century chancel roof features trussed rafters that once supported a plaster vault, which has since been removed, and contains moulded tie beams and wall plates. The font is a simple tub with a base torus set on a short column, thought to be medieval. It has a 17th-century cover with turned balusters supported by simple ogee brackets. The pulpit is dated HS.1633.ID, is panelled with carved upper panels, and was reset over six steps, given a panelled tester in 1709. There are 17th-century box pews, likely dating from 1633, that were reworked in the 19th century. A panelled screen separates the nave from the vestry, with a panelled door. A marble monument by Osmund of Sarum, to Ellen Atkins, died 1851, is located on the north wall of the nave. In the chancel, a white marble tablet by Sanders of London commemorates Winifred Anne and Elizabeth Faucett, who died in 1830 and 1851, with a draped urn above. Another oval white marble panel on grey commemorates Rev John Jennings, who died in 1763. Above the chancel beam are the royal arms of Victoria. Two brasses are present; one commemorates the placing of roadside seats after the Second World War. The east window contains three yellow stained sun and star panes, probably dating from the 16th century. The church is notable for its historical connection to Richard Hooker, who completed "The Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity" here before moving to Bishopsbourne, and Isaac Walton, who served as rector from 1679–80.