St Andrew's Church, Hempstead is the

Church of England parish church A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ...

of Hempstead, near Stalham, Norfolk, England. Hempstead is in

Lessingham Lessingham is a village and a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The civil parish also includes the village of Eccles on Sea and the hamlet of Hempstead. Lessingham is located south-east of Cromer and north-east of Norwich. Hi ...

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

about east of

North Walsham North Walsham is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the North Norfolk district of the county of Norfolk, England. The town is located south of Cromer and Norwich is south. Demography The civil parish has an area of ...

and from the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

coast. The church is a

Grade II* listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

History

The oldest part of the church is the

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

, which was built in the 13th century. 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 ...

was built in the 14th century. The nave used to have aisles, but these were demolished in the 15th century. In the 15th century the west tower was built and a wooden tracery screen was inserted in the chancel arch. The upper part of the chancel screen has

Perpendicular Gothic Perpendicular Gothic (also Perpendicular, Rectilinear, or Third Pointed) architecture was the third and final style of English Gothic architecture developed in the Kingdom of England during the Late Middle Ages, typified by large windows, four-ce ...

tracery of an unusual type. The lower part has two rows of eight panels which had 15th-century paintings of saints, most of which survive. In February 1982 a thief using a screwdriver removed from the screen a panel bearing a painting of

Saint Eligius Eligius (; 11 June 588 – 1 December 660), venerated as Saint Eligius, was a Frankish goldsmith, courtier, and bishop who was chief counsellor to Dagobert I and later Bishop of Noyon–Tournai. His deeds were recorded in ''Vita Sancti Eligii' ...

. The panel has never been recovered. The

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, accesse ...

and reading desk are 17th-century. The west tower has three bells. The second bell was cast by an unknown founder at the end of the 14th century. Brasyers of

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...

cast the tenor bell at the end of the 15th century. Thomas Newman of Norwich cast the treble bell in 1707.

References

External links

* 13th-century church buildings in England Church of England church buildings in Norfolk Grade II* listed churches in Norfolk {{england-church-stub

History

References

Further reading

External links