2017

SK8314 : Church of St Andrew, Whissendine

taken 7 years ago, near to Whissendine, Rutland, England

Church of St Andrew, Whissendine
Church of St Andrew, Whissendine
Detail of the arch between the chancel and the north transept showing 13th century dog-tooth decoration on the capital and mould stop with carved face. The screen encloses the organ and is modern.
Church of St Andrew, Whissendine

Certainly one of the finest village churches in the county of Rutland, it makes an imposing impression when approached from the west along the village's main street.

The current church originates from the 13th century, although there was clearly an earlier church on the site. At that time it comprised a 4-bay nave with aisles, chancel and north transept. The arcades, chancel arch and arch between chancel and transept all date from this period and show various degrees of decoration. A feature of the north arcade, which is slightly the earlier, is the faces peering from the foliage of the capitals, whereas the south arcade capitals are all plain. This side does however have unusual grotesques on the hood mould stops.

An additional bay was added to the nave and aisles, with the latter being widened, in the 14th century, culminating in the impressive west tower. This rises to over 100 feet and is in a style transitional between Decorated and Perpendicular. A feature of the tower is the asymmetrical layout of the west and south faces due to the stair built into the south west corner.

The south transept was also added at this time. The roof was lowered in the 17th century, probably when the chancel roof was rebuilt in 1640, resulting in the removal also of the top of the large Perpendicular window.

The clerestory was added, as was typical, in the 15th century, and it seems likely that much of the timber carving of the nave roof dates from this time, although restored in 1728. See also Link .

The aisle windows were also inserted during the 15th century.

The north side of the nave showed signs of falling outwards at a later stage, probably in the 17th century, and bracing arches and buttress were added at this time. As the 6 bays of the clerestory did not match the 5 of the arcade, one of the buttresses runs into one of the clerestory window lights.

Apart from the 14th century font, the fittings inside the church are largely of Victorian or later date. The chancel was largely rebuilt between 1865 and 1870 by Sir George Gilbert Scott, and this also saw the installation of the medieval screen from St John's College, Cambridge in the south aisle.

The only significant stained glass is the work in the east window by Kempe, part of the Victorian restoration.

The church is Listed Grade I.


Creative Commons Licence [Some Rights Reserved]   © Copyright Alan Murray-Rust and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
Geographical Context: Historic sites and artefacts Village, Rural settlement Religious sites Period: 13th Century other tags: Church Interior Capital Dog-Tooth Early English Style Click a tag, to view other nearby images.
This photo is linked from: Articles: · Architectural features illustrated Automatic Clusters: · Chancel [5] Title Clusters: · Church of St Andrew, Whissendine [49] ·
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SK8314, 204 images   (more nearby 🔍)
Photographer
Alan Murray-Rust   (more nearby)
Date Taken
Sunday, 23 April, 2017   (more nearby)
Submitted
Wednesday, 26 April, 2017
Subject Location
OSGB36: geotagged! SK 8332 1430 [10m precision]
WGS84: 52:43.1968N 0:46.0728W
Camera Location
OSGB36: geotagged! SK 8332 1430
View Direction
WEST (about 270 degrees)
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Image Type (about): inside  close look 
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