Church Of St Andrew

The Church of St Andrew is a parish church dating back to around 1120-1140, with significant alterations and rebuilding in the 15th century (C15), 17th century (C17), and a Victorian restoration in the 19th century (C19). The church is constructed of rubble flint with stone and stone dressings, with a rendered chancel and porch, and an old plain tile roof. A weatherboarded bellcote sits atop the west end.

Originally Norman, the church comprised a chancel and a taller nave, with a bellcote on the west end and a Victorian porch on the south side. The chancel east window is a 2-light square-headed window altered in the 19th century, featuring a large 19th-century quatrefoil above. A small, original round-headed lancet window is on the north side, with a low-set pointed opening in the northwest corner. The south wall includes a reworked 13th-century lancet and a square-headed 15th-century 2-light window with a 19th-century mullion. High up on the east gable of the nave are a pair of small 11th-century pointed windows, originally for bells. The south wall also includes a largely 19th-century round-headed window to the east and a 19th-century porch with a carved timber gable, flint sides and a plain 11th-century round-headed doorway within. A similar doorway is blocked with brick on the north wall. A 11th-century narrow round-headed lancet with an externally set leaded light is near the northeast corner, accompanied by a monument from 1793 to Francis Lavington higher up. The west window is a 15th-century 2-light cinquefoiled window with a cinquefoil in its head. The bellcote has a hip roof sloping to the west, supporting the nave roof. Two bells date from 1580 and 1628.

Inside, the chancel features widely splayed round-headed rear arches to the east window and lancets. The east wall is offset from the sill level, except at the corners. A small recess with a pointed arch is located in the northeast corner. There are memorial tablets on the south side of the east window (1733 to Mary Stephens) and above the recess (1826 to Rev. William Gordon). The southeast corner contains a Norman pillar piscina with flat leaves. The chancel floor is laid with 81 good 15th-century encaustic glazed tiles. The chancel arch is round and plain, save for a rough zig-zag incised on the chamfered imposts. An early 17th-century timber screen with a pair of doors separates the chancel on its east side. The birth of the east gable windows have unequal imposts. The west window features a pointed rear arch, and other windows have widely splayed round-headed arches. The doorways are plain, with the south door fitted with strap hinges and a timber lock. The font has a small bowl on an octagonal Gothic Revival pillar, and stands on a 14th-century coffin lid. Floor slabs commemorate John Eaggar (1726), Edward Hooker (1728), Eleanor Harfert (1741), Francis Crosswell (1752), James Goodman (1811). Monuments on the south wall commemorate Edward Hooker and family (1677-1716), and on the north wall, Henry Crosswell and his wife (1699-1711) and Dorethea Goodman (1811). The roofs are of 15th-century construction, with paired common rafters, arched braces, and ashlar pieces. The nave roof has been rebuilt to the west to accommodate the bellcote and includes two tiebeams supported on corbelled posts.