St Andrew's Church is in the village of Tarvin,

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

, England. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building. It is an active

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

parish church in the diocese of Chester, the archdeaconry of Chester and the deanery of Chester. Its

benefice A benefice () or living is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The Roman Empire used the Latin term as a benefit to an individual from the Empire for services rendered. Its use was adopted by ...

is united with that of St Peter, Duddon.

History

The original church on the site was built in the 12th century. It was remodelled in the 14th century and the south wall and south arcade date from this time. The remainder of the church was rebuilt in the 15th century and the chancel was restored in the 18th century. The tower was built in the 15th century and the north aisle was added after this. Further restorations took place in the 18th and 19th centuries, followed by one in 1908 by F. P. Oakley.

Architecture

Exterior

The church is built in red sandstone with a Welsh

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

roof. Entry is through the west wall of the west tower. The plan consists of a five-

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a Gulf (geography), gulf, sea, sound (geography), sound, or bight (geogra ...

nave and a two-bay chancel, a north aisle with a chapel (the Bruen chapel) at its east end, and a south aisle with a south porch. The doorway to the tower is Tudor in style, the second storey has deeply recessed

quatrefoil A quatrefoil (anciently caterfoil) is a decorative element consisting of a symmetrical shape which forms the overall outline of four partially overlapping circles of the same diameter. It is found in art, architecture, heraldry and traditional ...

windows and a clock on all four sides. The top is

embattled A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (i.e., a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at interva ...

, and the remains of former

pinnacle A pinnacle is an architectural element originally forming the cap or crown of a buttress or small turret, but afterwards used on parapets at the corners of towers and in many other situations. The pinnacle looks like a small spire. It was mainly ...

s are at the corners.

Interior

The nave roof is arch-brace and hammerbeam in design and is dated 1650. It was covered in lath and plaster during the 18th century and its structure was brought to light again in the 1891 restoration. Over the south aisle is a single framed roof dating from 1380, which is the only one of its type in the county. The octagonal

font In metal typesetting, a font is a particular size, weight and style of a typeface. Each font is a matched set of type, with a piece (a "sort") for each glyph. A typeface consists of a range of such fonts that shared an overall design. In mod ...

dates from the 15th century. Most of the furniture and fittings were removed during restorations, but the two-tier brass candelabrum dating from the 18th century is still present. In the chancel is a Flemish

reredos A reredos ( , , ) is a large altarpiece, a screen, or decoration placed behind the altar in a church. It often includes religious images. The term ''reredos'' may also be used for similar structures, if elaborate, in secular architecture, for ex ...

from around 1500 and a copper memorial tablet to Henry Hardware who died in 1584. The east window of 1892 is by Kempe. The west window was donated in 2006 and was designed by Fiona Banner and Roy Coomber. At the entrance to the Bruen chapel is a 14th-century wooden screen. On its south wall is a squint with a carved image, known as the "church imp", who looks through the squint. During the first quarter of the 17th century all the pre- Reformation glass was removed from the chapel by John Bruen because he considered it to form "superstitious images and idolatrous pictures". The altar table dates from the 17th century. The chapel contains memorials to John Bruen and others. In the church are five memorial boards which are believed to have been painted by members of the Randle Holme family of

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

. The parish registers begin in 1563 but are incomplete between 1682 and 1687. There is a

ring Ring may refer to: * Ring (jewellery), a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry * To make a sound with a bell, and the sound made by a bell :(hence) to initiate a telephone connection Arts, entertainment and media Film and ...

of six bells cast by Thomas Rudhall in 1779.

External features

In the churchyard are six structures that are listed at Grade II. These are the gates and gate piers to the churchyard, a sandstone

sundial A sundial is a horological device that tells the time of day (referred to as civil time in modern usage) when direct sunlight shines by the apparent position of the Sun in the sky. In the narrowest sense of the word, it consists of a flat ...

dating from the mid-18th century, the tombchests of John Minshull and his daughter, William and Elizabeth Hilton, William Sandbach and others, and the tombstone of Beatrix Hollinsworth. The churchyard also contains the war graves of three British soldiers and a Canadian Army soldier of World War I.

Interments

Notable gravesites

James Crawfoot James Crawfoot (''c.''1759 – 23 January 1839) ''(also spelled Crowfoot, Crofoot, Crawford)'' was the leader of the 'Magic Methodists' or 'Forest Methodists' who influenced Hugh Bourne and William Clowes, the founders of Primitive Methodism. Ba ...

, prominent Methodist in the early 19th century

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tarvin, St Andrew's Church Church of England church buildings in Cheshire Grade I listed churches in Cheshire English Gothic architecture in Cheshire Diocese of Chester