Church Of Saint Andrew

The Church of Saint Andrew is a Grade II* listed building located in Aysgarth, North Yorkshire. It was mainly constructed in 1866 and is designed in the Decorated style by architect James Green of Todmorden. The church is built from rubble and features a slate roof. It includes a west tower, a five-bay nave, and a three-bay chancel with aisles, along with a south porch.

The tower consists of five stages, with the lower four made of 14th-century masonry. It has diagonal and lateral offset buttresses, single-light vents in the three lowest stages, and a clock face on the north and south sides of the fourth stage. Each elevation of the tower has two 2-light belfry openings, along with gargoyles and a crenellated parapet adorned with pinnacles. There is a pointed-arched doorway, possibly from the 18th century, on the north side.

The south porch features a tall pointed opening with continuous wave moulding and large heads on the label stops. The inner doorway has two hollow-chamfered orders. The south aisle contains 2-light Decorated-style windows, and to the right of the priest's door is a re-used medieval tombstone featuring a hunting horn, likely belonging to a Forester of Wensleydale Forest. The church has crenellated parapets, with 2-light clerestorey windows in the nave and paired lights and single-light windows in the chancel. The east window is a five-light Perpendicular-style window, while the aisle east windows are four-light Perpendicular-style.

Inside, there are two damaged medieval piscinas flanking the priest's door and a 10th-century Northumbrian cross-head found in the churchyard, placed on a table near the main door. The south side of the chancel features a remarkable rood screen made up of seven 3-light bays from Jervaulx Abbey, crafted by the Ripon School of Carvers around 1506. It also includes two stall ends of similar quality, featuring the rebus of William de Heslington, the Abbot of Jervaulx from 1472, now incorporated into the reading desk. In the north chancel, a timber beam across one bay of the arcade is inscribed "A S Abbas Ann. D'm. 1536," referring to Adam Sedber, the first Abbot of Jervaulx Abbey, which held the advowson. The nave contains good 19th-century pews with doors, three brass candelabra, and several fine 18th-century monuments, including those dedicated to the Yarkers.