St Andrew, Bere Ferrers

St Andrew is a Grade I parish church in Bere Ferrers, West Devon, in the Diocese of Exeter and the parish of Bere Ferrers with Bere Alston.

Overview

Historic England records principal building dates in the thirteenth century, about 1330 and the later fifteenth century, with a restoration of 1871. Walls are rendered stone rubble with granite and volcanic stone dressings and gable-ended slate roofs. The plan is nave, chancel, long north and south transepts, north chapel, south aisle, west tower and south porch. A Norman font shows that a church existed here earlier. Lancet windows and nook-shafts suggest thirteenth-century fabric. The church was probably extended and partly rebuilt about 1333 when Sir William de Ferrers founded an archpresbytery. The south aisle and porch are later fifteenth century.

The cruciform plan may date to the thirteenth century. The north chapel is no later than the early fourteenth century from the style of its tomb; the tower is pre-Perpendicular. Medieval monuments include a canopied tomb in the chancel with figures of a cross-legged knight and a lady with a wimple, attributed to Bristol craftsmen about 1300, and a tomb in the north transept with a cross-legged knight. The east window glass includes figures of Christ, William de Ferrers, his wife Matilda and a pilgrim. Further restoration took place in 1985–86.

Further Information

• Historic England list entry 1163103
• British Listed Buildings: Church of St Andrew