Church Of St Andrew, Castle Combe, Wiltshire, SN14 (Grade I)

CASTLE COMBE MARKET PLACE ST 8477 (west side) 6/122 Church of St. Andrew 20.12.60 GV I

Anglican parish church, mostly C15 but with C13 work in chancel and C14 in north-east chapel. Restored c1850-1. Rubble stone and ashlar with stone tile roofs. West tower, nave, aisles, south porch, chancel and north-east and south-east chapels. Fine ashlar 3-stage tower, begun 1434, with broad diagonal buttresses, south- east stair turret with crocketted spirelet, panelled battlements and corner pinnacles, buttresses with attached pinnacles on set- offs central to each tower stage. Four-centred arched west doorway with oak plank door and fine deep-set 4-light west window with statue in canopied niche each side. 3-light bell-openings with pierced stone panelling to lights. 3-bay nave and aisles, 2- light clerestory windows with hoods, long 3-light flat-headed aisle windows, carved stops to hoods, battlements, buttresses and east end pinnacles to aisles. Ashlar south porch, apparently C19 rebuilt. Chamfered pointed south doorway. 2-bay chancel and north-east chapel, one bay south-east chapel. South-east chapel with rood stair projecting, flat-head 3-light south window and arched 3-light east window with low door in angle to chancel. Chancel with C15 3-light south window and late C13 4 trefoil-head lancets with quatrefoil over to east end. North-east chapel has 3- light C14 flowing traceried east window and 2-light C15 flat-headed north window. Interior: Fan-vaulted tower with tall tower arch and C15 door to stair turret. Slim nave piers, 4 shafts, 4 hollows in section, with fine carved foliage and figure capitals. Carved head corbels to nave and aisles carrying roofs apparently Cl9 but possibly with reused bosses to aisles and timbers to nave arched braced collar roof. East end rose window, C19. Exceptional carved chancel arch with 3 statuettes under canopies to each arch and plant stem carving to flanking moulding. Chancel with boarded roof, 7-bay C13 east wall arcade, renewed c1851, trefoil heads and carved spandrels, under east window in splayed reveal flanked by shafted lancet panels. Chancel fittings c1851 including floor tiles with Scrope arms, family pew, east window by Ward & Nixon and south window by Gibbs. South-east chapel has organ and Scrope armorial glass to east window. North-east chapel has C15 oak screen, fine c1300 effigy of Knight and 1851 Gothic canopied monument to Scrope family. Scrope armorial glass to east window by Ward & Nixon and to north window. Nave C15 wood pulpit and remarkable stone font, C14, octagonal bowl with book-rest on quatrefoil base with openwork carved piers. Aisle and south-east chapel east windows have c1851 patterned quarry glass with coloured borders. North aisle, 1588 inscribed tablet to R. Gill. Various C18 and C19 wall monuments in aisles and tower notably to W. Fisher 1764 in south aisle and 2 earlier C18 pedimented monuments under tower. West window c1851 by Ward & Nixon. (E. Cruse: Castle Combe, 1965 P. 56-65).