Church Of St Andrew

The Church of St Andrew is an Anglican parish church dating to 1896. It is constructed of squared grey limestone with yellow limestone dressings, featuring interior fair-faced brickwork and slate roofs. The building comprises a nave with aisles, a transept that does not project beyond the aisles, an organ chamber, a vestry, a south chapel, a north porch, and a bell-cote at the chancel arch.

The north side presents two gables towards its left end, and a gabled porch on its right. The façade incorporates a series of single or grouped lancet windows. A paired lancet window is located under a drip to the organ chamber, while a 1:2:1 arrangement of lancets, under a stepped drip with a small rose window in plate tracery, is found at the transept. The west front features five stepped lancets arranged under a broad pointed arch containing yellow stone. Angle buttresses are present on either side, with a lancet window at the west end of each aisle. The south front is similar to the north, but with only one gable to the transept. A later porch is constructed of concrete block, with a further doorway to a slightly projecting porch featuring a shouldered lintel at the transept. The east front has a plain circular rose window under a pointed arch, above three lancets, flanked by angle buttresses. All gables are coped, and a lead-covered wooden bell-cote tops the structure.

The interior is faced with plain brick, painted to the sanctuary and south chapel. The four-bay nave has a wood block floor. Octagonal piers with a stone base course at plinth height support pointed arches that die into the piers. The tie-beam arch-braced collar roof is set on brackets, with a boarded ceiling above the joists; a double truss is located at the chancel opening. Aisle roofs feature tie-beams with a central braced post to the purlin. A delicate rood screen incorporates eleven small carved figures, and returns as a screen with carved brackets featuring paired heads to posts, under the organ. It also provides a narrow access way to the vestry. The sanctuary contains a rich altar and reredos on three steps, with an alabaster base, a central figure of Christ and Mary flanked by angels, and a curved canopy to decorative cresting. Three pointed arches form a blank arcade, creating sedilia with a piscina. The sanctuary is marked by a brick arch in two orders. Choir stalls and chairs are likely original fittings. The pulpit and lectern are of light openwork, with inset Art Nouveau brass plaques. A stone font is located at the west end, featuring a hemispherical bowl on a marble base, extending to an octagonal top with a good openwork font cover inset with Art Nouveau brass plates. In the south chapel, a memorial window by Cooper-Abbs commemorates Annie Barber and depicts Saints Anne, Joseph, Mary Magdalene, and Luke, dating to 1952. The modest exterior conceals an interesting interior with good furnishings and fittings designed for the building.