Church Of St Andrew

Church of St Andrew

This is a parish church with Norman origins but largely rebuilt in the 15th century. It was restored in 1876 and its tower was rebuilt in 1899. The building has rubble walls, coursed to the tower, and gable-ended slate roofs. The plan comprises a nave, west tower, north and south aisles, and a south porch.

The Norman south doorway demonstrates the church's early origins, but the building is predominantly Perpendicular in style. The nave and both aisles date from the 15th century. The north aisle can be precisely dated through one of its arcade capitals, which is carved with the arms of Prideaux, Hody and Spencer, probably commemorating the mid-15th-century marriage of William Prideaux to Alice, the Giffard heiress whose ancestors these families were. The windows throughout much of the church appear to have been restored in the 17th century. The smaller south aisle, known as the Thuborough aisle from the Prideaux seat, probably dates to the 15th century but may be somewhat earlier. A general restoration took place in 1876.

The west tower is an unbuttressed two-stage structure rebuilt in 1899, crenellated with obelisk finials and lacking a west doorway. It has two-light trefoiled belfry openings. The north aisle features four tall 17th-century three-light mullion windows, with a rectangular rood stair projection between the two left-hand windows. The granite north doorway has a depressed four-centred head with worn mouldings and a square hoodmould. The east end of the aisle has a 17th-century three-light debased Perpendicular granite window. The east ends of both aisles are parallel with that of the chancel. A three-light sandstone east window in Perpendicular style dates from the 1876 restoration, as does a similar window at the east end of the south aisle. The south aisle does not extend the full length of the nave. It has two three-light 17th-century mullion windows and a blocked priest's door between them, incorporating a small carving apparently of a bishop's head. The south wall of the nave has a 17th-century three-light window towards the west end. A datestone of 1630 set into the west end wall of the south aisle may indicate when these windows were installed. A gabled south porch has a simple, almost round-headed rubble doorway. Above it is a slate sundial dated 1785.

Inside, the porch has a partly restored medieval wagon roof with moulded ribs and unusual bosses formed by quatrefoils with a central carved image. A simple 12th-century south doorway with semi-circular tympanum, chamfered jambs and projecting imposts is also present. Internal walls have 20th-century plaster. The five-bay granite north arcade has Pevsner A-type piers with carved wreathed capitals and four-centred moulded arches. The three-bay south arcade is of different stone with similar piers but different capitals and narrower, more pointed arches. There is no chancel arch. A rubble four-centred tower arch is present. In the north wall is a four-centred granite doorway to the rood stairs. The chancel's east wall contains a good trefoiled piscina. A wagon roof over the north aisle, restored but retaining some moulded ribs and carved bosses, is good work. The church has good carved bench ends throughout, some restored, mainly displaying heraldic devices of local families including De Esse, Gifford, Spencer, Churchill, Prideaux and Edgecumbe. A fine 16th-century carved pulpit is supported on a stem with four carved brackets in the form of mythical creatures. The rood screen to the nave is largely a restoration, though some medieval work survives in the panels. An octagonal 15th-century granite font with carved panels on a tapering shaft is present. The east window of the south aisle contains medieval stained glass reset in its head, displaying the arms of De Esse, Spencer, Churchill and Downey. Medieval Barnstaple floor tiles are laid in the nave, chancel and east end of both aisles. To either side of the east window in the south aisle are wall memorials to members of the Prideaux family of similar design, featuring large obelisks above slate plaques with armorial shields below. The left-hand one is undated; the other bears the dates 1742 and 1764.