St. Andrew's Church, Shrivenham

St. Andrew's Church in Shrivenham stands on the north side of the village, from which the churchyard is entered through an oak lych-gate erected in 1912. The building consists of a chancel 32 ft. by 19 ft. 6 in., central tower 12 ft. 9 in. by 13 ft. 2 in., and nave 46 ft. 6 in. by 19 ft. 6 in. with north and south aisles 13 ft. wide the full length of the building, and west porch; the plan thus forms a rectangle measuring internally 101 ft. by 52 ft.

Except a part of the west wall, which is apparently of the late 12th century, and the tower, which dates from the first half of the 15th century, the church was rebuilt in its present form, largely at the expense of Lord Craven, in 1638. Two flat buttresses in the west wall at the ends of the nave arcades suggest an early aisled building, but the form of the plan eastward cannot now be stated. A cruciform plan, however, obtained in the 15th century, the tower being open by pointed arches on all four sides. The present north and south walls are probably built in line with the end walls of the transepts, the aisles being increased in width in the rebuilding. The porch was added in the 18th century, and bears the Royal cipher 'G. R.' Repairs were done in the same period, the lead of the nave roof bearing the date 1789. 

Externally the walls are of rubble with ashlar quoins and dressings, without buttresses or plinth. The roofs are leaded and are hidden behind a straight ashlar parapet. At the east and west ends are wide flat-pitched gables following the slope of the roof, which is of one span over nave and aisles, and the windows are all tall, square-headed mullioned openings, with moulded labels carried round the building as a string-course. Internally the walls are faced with clunch, and all the windows have rounded rear arches.

The chancel has north and south arcades of two semicircular arches springing from circular piers and responds, with moulded capitals and bases. The piers are of clunch and of classic type, with arches of two chamfered orders. The east window is of five cinquefoiled lights, with a three-light window on either side above a four-centred doorway at the end of each aisle.

The nave is of three bays, with lofty north and south arcades similar to those of the chancel. Above the west doorway is a five-light window similar to that at the east end, the segmental rear arch of which is carried on short corbelled shafts with moulded capitals and bases, in both of which the nail-head ornament occurs, and which are apparently work of c. 1195, though not in their original position. There are six windows on the north and south sides of the building, three to the nave and two to the chancel aisles, and one in the position of the end walls of the transept opposite the tower, all of four cinquefoiled lights. Each aisle is lighted at the west end by a three-light window.

The tower has a newel stair in the south-west pier entered from the east end of the nave, and the roodloft doorway still remains high up in the wall above. The tower arches have continuous mouldings on both sides, but are without labels, and the lower stage has a groined ceiling with large circular bell opening, the ribs springing from quarter-octagonal angle shafts corbelled out at the level of the spring of the arches. Above the roof the tower is of three stages with diagonal buttresses, embattled parapet and angle pinnacles, the weathering of the former high-pitched roofs showing on the north, south and west sides. The belfry windows are pointed and of two cinquefoiled lights with hood moulds, and the middle stage has a single trefoiled light with square label on each side. The lower or ringing stage has a single-light window north and south.

The floor of the church is level throughout and the chancel is separated from the aisles by modern wrought-iron and oak screens. The east end of the north aisle is used as a vestry and the organ is on the north side of the tower.

The late 12th-century font is of Purbeck marble, and consists of an octagonal bowl, 11 in. deep, on a circular stem and octagonal chamfered base, the whole 28 in. in height, standing on two stone steps. The bowl was at one time supported by wooden balusters at the angles, but these are now gone. The sides are plainly panelled, with two round 'arches' in each face, and the lower edge is moulded.

At the east end of the south aisle is a stone effigy in flat relief, now very much weathered by long exposure in the churchyard. 

The pulpit is of oak and hexagonal in plan, with panelled sides and canopy, and dates from the 17th century. The stalls below the tower and the panelling of the aisle walls below the windows are of the same period. The nave was reseated in oak in 1887. In the chancel is a brass chandelier, inscribed 'Ex dono Gulielmus Parsons 1726,' and two smaller ones given in 1909

There is some old glass in the east window. In one of the top lights is the figure of a bishop kneeling, with the inscription 'Jesu mercy,' and underneath a shield of arms with the initials and date 'I.H. 1505.' Another shield in the middle light has the initials and date 'JPA, 1607.'

In the chancel are marble monuments to Sir John Wildman (d. 1693) and his son John (d. 1710), the Rt; Hon. John Barrington (born Shute), first Viscount Barrington (d. 1734); William Wildman, second Viscount Barrington (d. 1793); and Mrs. Elizabeth Hale, born Pleydell (d. 1721). The aisles contain a large number of mural tablets and brass plates ranging from 1745 to 1908, many of them to members of the Barrington family. In addition to the grave slabs to Sir John Wildman and his son there are inscribed stones in the chancel to Elianor wife of John Wildman (d. 1677), the first Viscount and Ann Viscountess Barrington (d. 1763), and many others both in chancel and aisles. In the floor of the nave are two small brass plates with Latin inscriptions, one to Dr. John Ridley (d. 1672) and the other to Jane widow of Thomas Stratton (d. 1676).

A large flag captured by Admiral (then Captain) Barrington from the Comte de St. Florentine off Cape Finisterre on 4 April 1759 hangs in the chancel.

There is a ring of six bells recast in 1908 by Mears & Stainbank. Two of the old bells were dated 1701, and they all appear to have been cast at the foundry at Aldbourne, then owned by William and Robert Cor, three bearing the initials W.C. and three R.C. The inscriptions were meagre, but round the shoulders of three were medallions, as if the moulder had taken impressions on the wet mould from a crown piece of William III. There is also a 'little bell' hung separately in the east window of the middle stage. It is without date or inscription, but is not the original sanctus bell. The clock, which faces south to the village, was erected in 1898 in commemoration of Queen Victoria's second jubilee.

The plate consists of a cup of 1577–8, with the usual band of ornament; a cup without hall-mark, but probably temp. James I; two patens of 1636 with the maker's mark R.S. above a heart; a flagon of 1624 with the maker's mark T.B. above a boar's head, and engraved with the arms of Martcn; and two plates of foreign make with allegorical figures in the centre.

The registers begin in 1575. The first volume contains baptisms and burials to 1640 and marriages to 1641.

Historical information about St. Andrew's Church is provided by 'Parishes: Shrivenham', in A History of the County of Berkshire: Volume 4, ed. William Page and P H Ditchfield (London, 1924), pp. 531-543. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/berks/vol4/pp531-543 [accessed 9 March 2023].

St. Andrew's Church is a Grade I listed building. For more information about the listing see CHURCH OF ST ANDREW, Shrivenham - 1284309 | Historic England.

For more information about St. Andrew's Church see Parishes: Shrivenham | British History Online (british-history.ac.uk).