Church of Saint Andrew

The Church of Saint Andrew is a medieval building with a Victorian gothic revival character dating to around 1300. The church comprises a long, undivided nave and chancel, interrupted by transepts, with a timber belfry over the western bay. A southwest porch and a vestry are located in the northeast angle of the chancel and transept. The exterior is constructed of rubble stone with freestone dressings, covered by clay tiled roofs, with a lower pitched, hipped roof at the west end forming the base of the belfry. Stone coped gables define the east end and transepts. The two-tier timber-framed belfry is boarded externally and covered with shingles, topped with a shingled spire introduced by Scott, replacing an earlier pyramidal cap. Much of the masonry of the nave is medieval, although corner buttresses were added by Scott, who also refaced the chancel. The chancel and transepts are distinguished by more regular coursing and a continuous string course. A Victorian coped gabled porch features a chamfered arch springing from corbels, framing a simple round-headed doorway which is a remnant of the medieval church. Narrow, pointed lancet windows with cusping are found on the north and south sides of the nave and chancel. Original windows remain to the east of the porch and high in the north wall of the nave, setting the pattern for the rest of the building. The transepts and the east window of the chancel have more elaborate tracery styles featuring three lights.

Inside, the architectural character remains gothic revival, with considerable early fabric retained during restoration. The western bay is dominated by the timber structure of the belfry. Heavy timber posts with arched bracing were used during the restoration to define a baptistery, with a simple font on a low platform. Above is a largely medieval or early medieval belfry structure, with a doubled frame and bell frame, repaired by Scott. The braced collar trusses of the nave roof also appear to belong to the pre-restoration structure. Scott added cusping to the nave-chancel truss and introduced a panelled ceiling to differentiate the chancel. Double chamfered arches spring from responds with engaged shafts and corbels to the chancel and transepts. The chancel screen was largely reconstructed during the restoration, retaining some original 16th-century fabric, including fretwork tracery at the heads of flanking panels and forming a central cambered arch with fretwork cresting above. Simple encaustic tiles are laid in the sanctuary, installed by Godwin. An organ, originally from 1868 and rebuilt in 1993, stands to the north of the chancel. Altar rails, nave seating, and choir stalls are all contemporary with the 1868 restoration. A timber pulpit with open-work tracery panels was given as a memorial to a victim of the Somme in 1916. A reredos, added in 1905, is constructed of timber with rich traceried panels in the Perpendicular gothic style. The church’s stained glass is a virtually complete series from 1868 by Clayton and Bell, with figurative panels in the east and west windows and in the north and south windows of the transepts, and simpler floral lozenges elsewhere. A small window dating to 1990, by Charles Broome of Hereford, is located west of the porch.