Church Of St Andrew

Church of St Andrew

The Church of St Andrew at Buckland Monachorum is a parish church dating mainly from the later 15th century, with some earlier fabric incorporated, and a south chapel probably of the 16th century. It was restored in 1869. The building is constructed of stone rubble walls with granite dressing, and is roofed with slate in gable ends over the nave, aisles, transepts and other sections.

The Norman tub font represents the only recognisable surviving element from an earlier church on the site. The main body of the building—the west tower, nave, chancel, north and south aisles, transepts and south porch—dates from the later 15th century, though certain incongruities of construction suggest that parts of an older building may have been reused. The north and south chapels are probably of the later 16th century, with differing window styles indicating they may not be exactly contemporary. A vestry, added probably in the 17th century, stands to the east of the north chapel.

The 1869 restoration involved re-flooring and re-seating the church, though a few old bench ends were retained.

The three-stage west tower is battlemented with set-back buttresses rising to the second stage. It is crowned with polygonal, crenellated pinnacles that are crocketted at the top. A pentagonal stair turret on the north-west corner carries small quatrefoil lights. The west doorway is elaborately moulded with a four-centred granite arch decorated with quatrefoils in the spandrels and a square hoodmould. A Perpendicular three-light west window sits in a moulded surround. The two-light belfry openings have similar tracery. Moulded stringcourses run above each stage on the south side, the topmost incorporating a gargoyle. The west fronts of both the north and south aisles feature crocketted pinnacles, as do both transepts. Diagonal and flat intermediate buttresses articulate the walls. The aisle and transept windows are large with delicately carved Perpendicular tracery in places; those on the transepts and west fronts of the aisles have four lights, while the remainder have three lights, all relatively unrestored except the westernmost window on the south aisle. The north aisle's west end contains a richly moulded four-centred stone arched doorway with leaf design in its spandrels and a heavy moulded hoodmould.

The north chapel has two late three-light Perpendicular windows with round-headed lights, the central one taller than its fellows. A narrow four-centred arched doorway lies between them. The adjoining vestry to the east features a two-light round-headed mullion window on its first floor and a single barred granite-framed light below. The east window is Perpendicular with five lights. On the south side of the chancel is a similar late Perpendicular window. The east window of the south chapel has been blocked by the insertion of a monument inside; the chapel itself has two late 16th-century three-light windows with cinquefoil heads on its south side, with a later stone arched doorway inserted below the left-hand one. The two-storey south porch is battlemented with crocketted pinnacles and diagonal buttresses; its doorway matches the west doorway in character, and above it is an empty niche.

The interior is of high quality. The nave has five-bay arcades with two further bays extending beyond the chancel arch. These arcades feature slender Pevsner A-type piers with cup capitals; the moulding extends to the four-centred arches. The transepts are not exactly aligned with the arcade bays, and the aisle-transept arches are lower in proportion. The tall moulded chancel arch is lopsided and strangely constructed, appearing to incorporate the fragment of an earlier chamfered arch; the awkward springing on the south side may have resulted from the addition of the south chapel. The tower arch is tall and narrow with piers similar to those of the arcade. The windows are internally fitted with moulded granite frames and arches. A chamfered granite wall plate runs throughout. The chancel is slightly narrower than the nave and contains a granite four-centred arched doorway in its north wall leading to the vestry.

The south chapel, known as the Drake Chapel, has a notable heavily ribbed stone tunnel-vaulted roof of granite, richly moulded with carved bosses. The nave roof is of hammerbeam construction bearing figures of angels playing musical instruments—somewhat restored—and is ceiled with moulded ribs and bosses; the central boss depicts the coronation of the Virgin Mary. The chancel, aisles and transepts have more conventional wagon roofs, considerably restored in appearance. Beneath the tower arch is a wooden screen taken from Sheepstor Church, retaining its original Perpendicular tracery and vine leaf cornice, though the panelling and cresting have been renewed. A few old carved pre-Reformation bench ends survive—one in the north aisle depicts two angels bearing heraldic shields—but most are 19th-century reproductions.

The granite tub font in the north-west corner is probably Norman, featuring a simply moulded girdle. It was discovered in the ground beneath the church in 1857 and must have been replaced in the 16th century by the present font, which is granite, octagonal on a panelled and decorated pedestal, with carved foliage below the bowl and sides decorated with quatrefoils and shields. One shield displays the initial "T", reputedly referring to John Toker, the last Abbot of Buckland Abbey, who became the parish priest after the Dissolution.

The church contains one monument by John Bacon on the east wall of the Drake Chapel: an impressive marble monument to General Elliot, Baron Heathfield, who successfully defended Gibraltar during the Spanish siege of 1779–84. It depicts a classical female figure holding up a shield with the arms of Gibraltar presented to a medallion of the General, with a putto at her feet wearing a helmet and holding the key of the fortress. The base carries an inscription with relief scenes from the battle, and is dated 1795. On the south wall of the chapel are two smaller, less elaborate marble monuments: the left-hand one by Bacon to Sir Francis Henry Drake (died 1794) and the right-hand one by Bacon Junior to the 2nd Baron Heathfield (died 1813). Other notable wall memorials in the chancel include one to Amos Crymes, vicar of the parish, and his two step-daughters, who died between 1770 and 1806, and one by the younger Westmacott to Dame Eleanor Drake (died 1841). The only surviving fragments of old glass are in the east window, depicting angels. The north transept window is by Kempe (1880), while the south transept and west windows are by Kempe and Trauer (1901 and 1907 respectively).

The church has a particularly impressive exterior with most of the original windows preserved, and a fine interior in which the unusual nave roof and the south aisle are particularly notable features.