Church Of St Andrew

Church of St Andrew

A parish church of ironstone and limestone ashlar with limestone dressings, lead and stone slate roofs. The church dates from the early 14th and 15th centuries and underwent restoration in the early 18th century and again in 1870 by the architects Slater and Carpenter.

The building comprises a west tower with spire, nave with aisles, chancel, and south porch.

The 15th-century west tower rises in four stages with clasping buttresses featuring four set-offs, moulded plinth and string courses, a quatrefoil frieze, crenellated parapet and four crocketed pinnacles. The first stage has a moulded doorway to the west with flat hood mould and traceried spandrels. The second stage displays an ogee-headed triple lancet with Decorated tracery and hood mould to the west. The third stage has a clock to the north. The fourth stage has on each side a pair of ogee-headed transomed double bell-chamber openings with hood moulds. A setback octagonal spire rises above, with two tiers of gabled lucarnes on the same faces, containing double and single lancets, topped with a finial and weathercock.

The nave has moulded eaves, parapet and gable with a cross. A clerestory on each side contains six cusped untraceried double lancets with hood moulds. The north side features a lead rainwater head inscribed 'R G 1702' and another inscribed 'T L'. The south side has a similar rainwater head inscribed 'W O 1713'.

The north aisle, dating to the 15th century, comprises three bays with a chamfered plinth, moulded parapet and sill band, and two diagonal buttresses. The west end has a Decorated double lancet with a tablet dated 1813 to its left, bearing a drip mould. The north side displays two 15th-century untraceried three-light windows with Tudor arched heads, and the east end has a similar window. All windows feature hood moulds.

The similar south aisle dates from the early 14th century and consists of three bays with a continuous hood mould and two angle buttresses with two set-offs each. The east end has a Geometrical triple lancet. The south side contains a Y-traceried double lancet on each side of the porch and to their right a 15th-century untraceried triple lancet, with a similar window formerly at the west end. All windows have hood moulds.

The two-bay chancel has a moulded sill band, eaves and parapet, with an east gable and cross. The north side features an off-centre roll-moulded 14th-century doorway flanked by single cusped untraceried triple lancets, now restored. The south side has a central buttress with two set-offs, flanked by similar triple lancets to the north, also restored. The east end has an angle buttress to the left with two set-offs, and an ogee-reticulated quadruple lancet dated to 1870 by Slater and Carpenter. All windows carry hood moulds.

The 14th-century south porch, restored, has a coped gable with finial and cross, a moulded and rebated doorway with octagonal responds, hood mould and mask stops. Each side displays a quatrefoil in a square surround. The porch interior contains various re-set crosses and worked stones with a 20th-century roof, and a moulded 14th-century inner doorway with hood mould and mask stops.

Interior

The tower chamber has a plain triple-chamfered 15th-century arch. It contains a round-headed niche to north and south, and a stained glass west window dating to circa 1941.

The north arcade comprises four bays with octagonal piers and responds enriched with ballflower capitals. The south arcade is similar with plain capitals. Double-chamfered and rebated arches have hood moulds with mask stops. A moulded sill band and clerestory window openings run above. The nave has a 15th-century roof with moulded tie-beams, arch braces, angel corbels, lengthwise arch braces and moulded purlins.

The north aisle west end features a panelled screen dated 1914, and the east end has an organ case with show pipes. The aisle has a 15th-century roof with cambered tie-beams, arch braces and angel corbels. The south aisle east end contains a stained glass window dated 1908. The south side has a cove-moulded 14th-century piscina to the east and a 14th-century tomb recess to its right. The south-east window holds stained glass from 1939. The west end window contains 14th-century stained glass fragments featuring cranes and a crest. The south aisle roof is 15th-century with moulded tie-beams, mask bosses, arch braces, wall shafts and angel corbels.

The chancel has a 14th-century double-chamfered arch with triple shaft responds. The north side has a mid-14th-century tomb recess to the east. The east window displays stained glass by Kempe, dated 1900. The south side contains a rebated aumbry and a restored 14th-century piscina to the east, with a 14th-century triple sedilia with filleted double shafts to their right. The chancel roof is 15th-century with moulded purlins and tie-beams with bosses.

Fittings comprise 19th-century stalls, benches, a wooden gradine, an octagonal pulpit and font. A remarkable 18th-century gadrooned baluster-shaped font is notable.

Monuments include a late 15th-century floor brass; a brass in a pedimented alabaster surround dated 1589; a brass with crest dated 1602; a Renaissance Revival-style tablet to Susanna Robinson dated 1714, inscribed with verse by the deceased; several 18th and 19th-century marble and slate tablets; and war memorials from 1918 and 1945.