Church Of Saint Andrew

Church of Saint Andrew

An Anglican parish church positioned on the north side of The Green in High Ham. The building displays traces of 12th and 14th century work in the tower, with the remainder mostly rebuilt in 1476 and subject to some 19th century restoration by John Norton.

The church is constructed of local lias stone, cut and squared, with Ham stone dressings. The main roofs are Welsh slated with moulded coped gables behind battlemented parapets, whilst the aisle and porch roofs are sheet lead behind battlements. The plan comprises a four-cell arrangement: a three-bay chancel, five-bay nave with north and south aisles, plus an added south porch and west tower.

The chancel, dating to the late 15th century, features a double plinth course and eaves course with gargoyles beneath a crenellated parapet. A coped gable sits behind the east gable proper. Angled corner and bay buttresses carry pinnacles to the corners and formerly to each buttress. The east window contains five lights with sub-arcuated tracery, set in a hollowed recess with a pointed arched label bearing headstops. The north and south sides display three-light windows matching this style, though the centre bay on the north side is blank whilst the south has a small almost triangular four-centre arched moulded doorway.

The nave is visible as a clerestorey with three-light traceried windows set in four-centre arched chamfered recesses without labels, with a gargoyle string course and crenellation above. The north aisle has a double plinth, eaves course with gargoyles and battlements, supported by bay and angled corner buttresses. Three-light windows of standard tracery sit in hollowed pointed-arched recesses without labels, except the centre bay which features a four-centre arched chamfered doorway. An east window of two lights displays cusped Y-tracery similar to Low Ham Church and may date to the late 17th century. The south aisle contains a similar late window in its east wall and matches the north aisle in general detail. The middle bay houses the porch, similar in detail but lower in height, with angled corner buttresses and a pitched moulded gable coping topped by a sundial. A near semi-circular arched doorway with 19th century wrought iron gates provides access. To its right stands a canopied stoup, and above this a canopied statue niche containing a 19th century figure. The interior features a fine moulded rib and panel timber roof with rose and leaf bosses, and an original inner door with a traceried head.

The tower comprises three stages and is rather squat in proportion. It displays triple plinth bands and string courses beneath battlemented parapets, with a small canopied figure on one south merlon and corner gargoyles. Angled corner buttresses rise on the west side, whilst straight buttresses on the east face continue as the west walls of the aisles. The north-east corner stair turret rises slightly higher than the tower itself. A small pointed arched doorway pierces the plinth of the south wall, and set on the plinth in the west wall is a three-light window in a very deep hollowed pointed arched recess without label. The second stage contains a small trefoil-cusped single-light window under a square label on three faces, with a clock on the south. The third stage has two-light near semi-circular arched windows on all faces, fitted with pierced stone baffles.

The interior is almost entirely 15th century in character. The chancel possesses a fine moulded kingpost truss roof with arched-braced ties and extensive carving including rosettes and angels. Two empty statue niches occupy the east wall. Choir stalls incorporate 15th century work, and a timber screen of the Devon type with an elaborate fan-vaulted overthrow spans the wide panelled chancel arch, remaining well preserved. The nave features standard hollowed four-shaft piers to the arcading and a matching roof, though the tower arch may date to the 13th century. A 19th century pulpit and lectern are present, alongside numerous 15th century bench ends to the pews. Both aisles have moulded rib and panel timber roofs matching the south porch. The south aisle contains a 17th century altar table and a 12th century lead-lined tulip bowl font on a turned base with cable mould, fitted with a 20th century cover in 17th century style. Fragments of 15th century stained glass remain in the east window tracery.

A brass tablet commemorates John Dyer, who died in 1499 as Rector and paid for the rebuilding of the chancel.