Church of St Andrew, Biggleswade
St Andrew's Church is the
History
St Andrew's church is first mentioned in a grant of the manor of Biggleswade to
The medieval tower collapsed in the early 1700s and was rebuilt in 1720 and fitted with a ring of five bells cast by Thomas Russell of Wootton in 1721. The church underwent a major restoration in 1870 when the roofs and stonework were repaired, an organ chamber was added and corbels were fitted to carry the wall-posts for the nave roof.[1]
A stone reredos designed by the London architect R J Withers was added in 1877 with decoration by the famous mosaicist company of Antonio Salviati in 1881. Between 1885 and 1888 the church architect William Butterfield made additional improvements to St Andrew's which included reroofing the chancel and the addition of a new vestry. The chancel and organ chamber were damaged by a fire in November 1953 and were restored between 1953 and 1955 which included adding an organ gallery at the church's West end.[1]
Design
The tower arch and five doorways in the church date to about 1300 AD but the remainder of the building is from the
The interior walls were stripped of plaster in the late 19th century. The nave and aisles are separated by Perpendicular four-bay arcades with moulded arches and piers with four shafts. At the West end the tall tower arch dates to the earliest tower of about 1300, while the remainder of the church tower dates to 1720. St Andrew's is built of coursed dark ironstone rubble, while the tower is of grey ashlar on an ironstone base. The church has limestone dressings. The stained glass in the East window was installed in 1877, while the chancel window in the South West depicting the Crucifixion is of 1882 and is by Lavers, Barraud and Westlake. The middle window on the South of the chancel is by Charles Eamer Kempe.[1][7][8]
The church has been Grade II* listed since 20 May 1952.[1]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e Church of St Andrew, Biggleswade on the British Listed Buildings website
- ^ John Crook, English Medieval Shrines, The Boydell Press (2011) - Google Books p221
- ^ a b c St Andrew's Church on the Biggleswade History Society Timeline
- University of Durham
- ^ Brass Monumental Brass of Death and John Rudying - Rubbings Collection - Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
- ^ 'A Brass once in Biggleswade Church' - The Antiquaries Journal, Volume 16, Issue 3 (1936) pp. 284-290
- ^ Nikolaus Pevsner, The Buildings of England: Bedfordshire, the County of Huntingdon and Peterborough, (1968) p 55-6
- ^ J. Dominey, Biggleswade Parish Church: a History and Guide (1976, rev. 2006)