Church

St Andrew, Walpole St Andrew

St Andrew, Walpole St Andrew

St Andrew’s is a Grade I redundant Perpendicular church on Kirk Road in Walpole St Andrew, west Norfolk, in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust. It stands in the shadow of the better-known St Peter’s, the so-called Cathedral of the Fens.

Location
Walpole St Andrew, Norfolk
Country
England
County
Norfolk
City / town
Walpole St Andrew
Address
Kirk Road, Walpole St Andrew, Norfolk, PE14 7LR
Postcode
PE14 7LR
Built
C15 (bequests 1443 for the nave, 1463 for the porch, 1504 for lead); restored 1811, 1897; tower restored 1902
Denomination
Churches Conservation Trust
Dedication
Andrew
Diocese
Ely
Parish
Walpole St Peter with St Andrew
Grade
I
Style
Perpendicular
Materials
Brick tower with ashlar dressings; remainder rendered brick and ashlar; lead roofs
Grid reference
TF 500 174
Opening hours
Open by arrangement.
Access
Accessible toilets nearby. Level access to the main areas

Overview

The listing dates the church to the fifteenth century with some re-used earlier details. Bequests of 1443 (nave), 1463 (porch) and 1504 (lead) document the build. The plan is a west tower, aisled nave with clerestory, south porch and chancel. The three-stage brick tower has ashlar dressings, a probable anchorite cell in a lean-to through the south-west buttress, and a crenellated parapet with pinnacles. The rest is rendered brick and ashlar under lead roofs. Restorations are recorded in 1811, 1897 and (tower) 1902.

The church was declared redundant in the early 2000s and passed to the Churches Conservation Trust. In 2007 the Trust lifted nineteenth-century flooring to investigate damp damaging the stone columns; the church remained largely unusable for many years while further repairs were planned. It has appeared on Historic England’s Heritage at Risk Register.

Further Information