St Andrew's Church is in Main Street,

Sedbergh Sedbergh ( or ) is a town and civil parish in Cumbria, England. The 2001 census gave the parish a population of 2,705, increasing at the 2011 census to 2,765. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, it lies about east of Kendal, nor ...

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. C ...

, England. It is an active Anglican

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

in the deanery of Kendal, and the

diocese of Carlisle The Diocese of Carlisle was created in 11 April 1132 by Henry I out of part of the Diocese of Durham, although many people of Cumbric descent in the area looked to Glasgow for spiritual leadership. The first bishop was Æthelwold, who was the k ...

. Its benefice is united with those of St Mark, Cautley, and St John the Baptist, Garsdale, to form the benefice of Sedbergh, Cautley and Garsdale. The church is recorded in the

National Heritage List for England The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, a ...

as a designated Grade I

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

History

The present church dates mainly from about 1500, but fabric from earlier churches has been incorporated. A major

restoration Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to: * Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage ** Audio restoration ** Film restoration ** Image restoration ** Textile restoration * Restoration ecology ...

was carried out in 1885–86 by the Lancaster architects

Paley and Austin Sharpe, Paley and Austin are the surnames of architects who practised in Lancaster, Lancashire, England, between 1835 and 1946, working either alone or in partnership. The full names of the principals in their practice, which went under vario ...

. This included rebuilding the south

aisle An aisle is, in general, a space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, certain types of buildings, such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, par ...

, its

arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated game machine ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade game's hardware ** Arcade system board, a standardized printed circuit board * Amusement arcade, a place with arcade games * ...

and parts of the walling, lowering the floor, and removing the gallery. A new pulpit, altar and altar rails were added, which were made by Gillow. The restoration and the additions cost £4,200.

Architecture

Exterior

St Andrew's is constructed in

rubble Rubble is broken stone, of irregular size, shape and texture; undressed especially as a filling-in. Rubble naturally found in the soil is known also as 'brash' (compare cornbrash)."Rubble" def. 2., "Brash n. 2. def. 1. ''Oxford English Dictionar ...

stone with

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...

quoins Quoins ( or ) are masonry blocks at the corner of a wall. Some are structural, providing strength for a wall made with inferior stone or rubble, while others merely add aesthetic detail to a corner. According to one 19th century encyclopedia, t ...

and dressings; it has a green slate roof. Its plan consists of a five- bay

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

with a clerestory and a porch, a north aisle with a

vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government for a parish in England, Wales and some English colonies which originally met in the vestry or sacristy of the parish church, and consequently became known colloquiall ...

at the east end, a south aisle with a chapel at the south end and a porch, a

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ov ...

, and a west tower. The tower is in three stages, with the top stage slightly corbelled out. At the summit is an embattled

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). ...

with pinnacles at the corners. It has

buttress A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient buildings, as a means of providing support to act against the lateral ( ...

es on the west side, a three-light west window, and three-light louvred bell openings. Along both sides of the clerestory are five three-light windows. The aisles have embattled parapets and four-light windows. The south porch is

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

d with a

niche Niche may refer to: Science *Developmental niche, a concept for understanding the cultural context of child development *Ecological niche, a term describing the relational position of an organism's species *Niche differentiation, in ecology, the ...

above the entrance, and a coped parapet. In the wall of the south chapel is a priest's door with a sundial above it, and a three-light window. The north porch is smaller than the south, and is also gabled. It has a round-headed entrance, above which is a small niche containing a statue, and a large carved stone finial. The inner doorway is also round-headed, and is said to be

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

. At the northeast corner of the north aisle is a

flying buttress The flying buttress (''arc-boutant'', arch buttress) is a specific form of buttress composed of an arch that extends from the upper portion of a wall to a pier of great mass, in order to convey lateral forces to the ground that are necessary to pu ...

. The east end contains three windows; the vestry and chancel windows have three lights, and the chapel window has four lights.

Interior

The two arcades differ, the south arcade having six bays, and the north arcade eight bays. Most of the

piers Piers may refer to: * Pier, a raised structure over a body of water * Pier (architecture), an architectural support * Piers (name), a given name and surname (including lists of people with the name) * Piers baronets, two titles, in the baronetages ...

are cylindrical, and most of the arches are round-headed. The church contains wall memorials, and a 19th-century pulpit with a restored 18th-century sounding board. The two- manual organ was built in 1895 by Norman Brothers and Beard, and repaired and overhauled in 1986 by

Rushworth and Dreaper Rushworth and Dreaper was a firm of organ builders, and later general instrument suppliers associated with Paul McCartney based in Liverpool. The manufacturer was founded in 1828 by William Rushworth, operating until 2002. Upon its liquidation, ...

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

. 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 eight bells, all cast in 1897 by John Taylor and Company of

Loughborough Loughborough ( ) is a market town in the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England, the seat of Charnwood Borough Council and Loughborough University. At the 2011 census the town's built-up area had a population of 59,932 , the second large ...

External features

The churchyard is said to contain a yew tree under which George Fox preached and contains the unmarked grave of poet, American loyalist and Anglican missionary to colonial South Carolina, Revd.

Charles Woodmason Charles Woodmason ( – March 1789) was an author, poet, Anglican clergyman, American loyalist, and west gallery psalmodist. He is best remembered for his journal documenting life on the South Carolina frontier in the late 1760s, and for ...

(''ca''. 1720–1789).Arthur T. Winn, M.A. ''The Registers of The Parish of Sedbergh, Co. York. 1594–1800. Part III.: Burials.'' Sedbergh, Eng.: Jackson & Son, 1912, p. 207. Joseph R. Gainey. “Rev. Charles Woodmason (c. 1720–1789): Author, Loyalist, Missionary, and Psalmodist.” ''West Gallery: The Newsletter of the West Gallery Music Association'' (), Issue No. 59 (Autumn 2011), pp. 18–25. This undocumented article is the first publication to identify Woodmason's parents, background, baptism, marriage, and burial dates and places and contains much previously unavailable information.

References

External links

*
The Building and Bells of St. Andrew's Church
from http://www.sedbergh.org.uk *

Main Street, Sedbergh, Yorkshire, West Riding in The National Pipe Organ Register (NPOR)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Andrew's Church, Sedbergh Church of England church buildings in Cumbria Church of England church buildings in West Yorkshire Grade I listed churches in Cumbria English churches with Norman architecture English Gothic architecture in Cumbria Diocese of Carlisle Paley, Austin and Paley buildings Sedbergh