St Andrew's Church is a ruined church in

South Huish South Huish is a village and civil parish about 4 miles south west of Kingsbridge, in the South Hams district, in the county of Devon, England. The parish includes Galmpton and Hope Cove. According to the 2011 census the parish had a population ...

South Hams South Hams is a local government district on the south coast of Devon, England. Services divide between those provided by its own Council headquartered in Totnes, and those provided by Devon County Council headquartered in the city of Exete ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

, England. It 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 II*

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 ...

, and is under the care of the

Friends of Friendless Churches Friends of Friendless Churches is a registered charity formed in 1957, active in England and Wales, which campaigns for and rescues redundant historic places of worship threatened by demolition, decay, or inappropriate conversion. As of April ...

Early history

The

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 ...

and

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 ...

were built in the 13th century. The west tower, and possibly the north

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building wi ...

, were probably added in the early 15th century. Minor alterations to the south door and insertion of the east window to the chancel occurred in the late 15th or early 16th century, but immediately after this, major work was carried out to the south side of the church. This comprised an integral porch and south aisle, probably built between c.1520 and 1540. This included insertion of a carved and painted oak rood screen dividing the nave from the chancel and the south aisle from the

lady chapel A Lady chapel or lady chapel is a traditional British English, British term for a chapel dedicated to "Our Lady", Mary, mother of Jesus, particularly those inside a cathedral or other large church (building), church. The chapels are also known as ...

. A parclose screen was provided between this and the chancel, while a hagioscope or squint was cut into the north wall of the chancel to enable worshippers in the north transept to view the celebration of mass in the chancel. n 1553, four bells were recorded, at least two of which had probably been there since the 15th century when the tower was built, with the number being made up to four, probably in the early-mid 16th century when the tower was heightened. This number had increased to six by the early 19th century. However, by 1866, the condition of the church had deteriorated, perhaps due to population movement away from South Huish to the nearby village of Galmpton, about half a mile to the south, and the old church was considered to be beyond repair. A new church was built in Galmpton to replace it. The bells and font were moved to the new church and St Andrew's was abandoned. Also removed to Galmpton were the broken remains of two 15th-century

alabaster Alabaster is a mineral or rock that is soft, often used for carving, and is processed for plaster powder. Archaeologists and the stone processing industry use the word differently from geologists. The former use it in a wider sense that include ...

reredoses depicting scenes from the life of Christ. Before this time, the

stoup A holy water font or stoup is a vessel containing holy water which is generally placed near the entrance of a church. It is often placed at the base of a crucifix or religious representation. It is used in the Catholic Church, Anglican Churches ...

has been removed to

Salcombe Salcombe is a popular resort town in the South Hams district of Devon, south west England. The town is close to the mouth of the Kingsbridge Estuary, mostly built on the steep west side of the estuary. It lies within the South Devon Area o ...

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, ...

. The other fittings were sold. The

late medieval The Late Middle Ages or Late Medieval Period was the period of European history lasting from AD 1300 to 1500. The Late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern period (and in much of Europe, the Renai ...

screen was removed to Bowringsleigh House in

West Alvington West Alvington is a small village, located on the outskirts of Kingsbridge in South Devon on the A381 road. The appropriate electoral ward is called Westville and Alvington. Its population at the 2011 census was 2,042. It has a primary school an ...

. The south aisle

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 * ...

went to the church at Dodbrooke. The bench ends were acquired by the

Earl of Devon Earl of Devon was created several times in the English peerage, and was possessed first (after the Norman Conquest of 1066) by the de Redvers (''alias'' de Reviers, Revieres, etc.) family, and later by the Courtenay family. It is not to be co ...

and it is thought that they were installed in the chapel at

Powderham Castle Powderham Castle is a fortified manor house situated within the parish and former manor of Powderham, within the former hundred of Exminster, Devon, about south of the city of Exeter and mile (0.4 km) north-east of the village of ...

Architecture

The church is built in slate stone. It is now without a roof, but the walls, other than those of the transept, are largely intact. The ruins include a blocked west doorway, above which is a damaged

Perpendicular In elementary geometry, two geometric objects are perpendicular if they intersect at a right angle (90 degrees or π/2 radians). The condition of perpendicularity may be represented graphically using the ''perpendicular symbol'', ⟂. It ca ...

window and a round-headed south porch. The porch dates from the early-mid 16th century and contains stone benches along its sides and a

flue A flue is a duct, pipe, or opening in a chimney for conveying exhaust gases from a fireplace, furnace, water heater, boiler, or generator to the outdoors. Historically the term flue meant the chimney itself. In the United States, they are ...

on its western face. On the north wall of the nave is the frame of a lancet window; there are two similar window frames in the chancel. The interior of the church has been stripped of almost all of its former features, but in an archaeological survey of 2005, undertaken by Robert Waterhouse BA, MIfA, three image brackets were identified in the porch, nave and lady chapel.Archaeological survey by Robert Waterhouse for Hope Archive Group

Recent history

In 1976, the ruins were

vested In law, vesting is the point in time when the rights and interests arising from legal ownership of a property is acquired by some person. Vesting creates an immediately secured right of present or future deployment. One has a vested right to an ...

in the

charity Charity may refer to: Giving * Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons * Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sharing * C ...

the Friends of Friendless Churches. The charity holds a 999-year

lease A lease is a contractual arrangement calling for the user (referred to as the ''lessee'') to pay the owner (referred to as the ''lessor'') for the use of an asset. Property, buildings and vehicles are common assets that are leased. Industrial ...

with effect from 1 January 1976. Soon after vesting, the top of the tower was removed. In 1988, one of the

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies under ...

windows was reconstructed from fallen stones on the site. Work has been undertaken to slow down the decay of the remaining structure. An annual service continues to be held at the site.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:South Huish, Saint Andrews Church 13th-century church buildings in England 14th-century church buildings in England 15th-century church buildings in England Grade II* listed churches in Devon Churches preserved by the Friends of Friendless Churches Ruins in Devon Church ruins in England Grade II* listed ruins Saint Andrew