Church Of St Andrew

ST52SW ILCHESTER CP ROMAN ROAD (West side) NORTHOVER

4/84 Church of St Andrew

19.4.61

GV II* Anglican Parish Church. C14 and later. Local grey lias stone roughly cut and squared, Ham stone dressings; plain clay tiled roof with bands of scallop tiles between stepped coped gables with cross finials. Two-cell plan of 2-bay chancel and 3 bay nave, with south-east organ chamber, north end vestry, and west tower doubling as a porch. Chancel at least partly rebuilt in C19: offset corner buttresses, parts have chamfered plinth; east window 3-light almost triangular headed, early C15 tracery, no label; no windows to sides, but near-triangular arched doorway on north side, alongside projecting vestry which has a cusped 2-light flat arched window without label in north gable; south-east organ chamber projection quite plain. Nave has a 3-light C15-traceried window in hollowed pointed-arched recess in centre north bay, with flanking buttresses; on south side 3 matching windows, but no buttresses except to south-west corner. Tower in 3 stages; angled corner buttresses to midway up second stage; plinth string courses, shallow plain parapet; west doorway has moulded 4-centre arch without label, and immediately above a 3-light C14 traceried window in near triangular arch, and above this a small statue niche with flanking diagonally set pilasters and hood mould; other faces plain stage 1; to stage 2 a low flat-arched C14 window set on the string to south, and on north side the head only of a 2-light window of early C14; stage 3 has 2-light windows on all faces in 3 centred arches, cinquefoil cusped lights, probably C14 and in addition on south side a blocked small opening with segmental-arched head; stair turret on north east corner octagonal on plan, set slightly higher than main tower, having several slit windows, one quatrefoil and one small rectuangular window. Interior not acessible; mentioned is a double chamfer tower arch dying into imposts, and no furniture of interest, but previous list mentions a C17 pulpit. In origin a minster church of Saxon date, it may originally have been the Ilchester parish church, it is now one of only two surviving of at least eight medieval churches in the town. (Pevsner N, Buildings of England, South and West Somerset, 1958; VCH, Vol III,1974).

Listing NGR: ST5234823141