Description

COLD ASTON alias MAIN STREET
SP 11 NW
ASTON BLANK (north side)
6/11 Church of St. Andrew
26.1.61
GV I
Anglican parish church. C12, Perpendicular, restored 1875 by
J.E.K. Cutts. Coursed, squared and dressed limestone. Stone slate
roof to chancel, leaded roof to nave. C12 nave and chancel, with
projecting porch from nave south wall. Perpendicular west tower.
Chancel south wall; one trefoil-headed lancet, plain lancet with
hood right. Chamfered string just below eaves height at east end
with eroded projecting stops. Blocked small round-headed C12
window with single stone lintel in nave north wall. Trefoil-headed
lancet with stopped hood right. Nave; easternmost bay of nave
stepped in slightly on both sides, flat-chamfered plinth. North
wall, 3-light rectangular window with Perpendicular tracery
(probably C19) lighting easternmost bay. Two trefoil-headed
lancets right. Blocked C12 door with semi-circular tympanum with
plain central field and decorated but eroded margin with billet
decoration at bottom and zig-zag decoration around upper arc.
Buttress with moulded plinth far right. Nave south wall;
buttress with moulded plinth far left. Trefoil-headed lancet left
of porch, plain lancet right. C19 three-light window with
rectangular surround and tracery right. C20 plank door within C12
surround with jamb shafts and sculptured volute capitals within
porch. Arch of three orders, roll-moulding, double billet and
diaper. Honey-combed tympanum within surround enriched with
rosettes, lintel below decorated with leaf and tendril motifs.
Parapet with moulded capping to both sides of nave. String with
eroded gargoyles below parapet. Three stage Perpendicular tower
with moulded and flat-chamfered plinth and diagonal buttresses.
Double plank doors on west within 'Tudor'-arched part hollow-
moulded, part flat-chamfered surround with carved spandrels and
stopped hood. Three-light pointed window with Perpendicular
tracery and hollow-moulded hood with head stops above. Single
rectangular light to second stage on south. Pointed belfry windows
with stopped hoods and stone louvres on each side of tower.
Rebuilt gabled porch on south side of nave with 'Tudor'-arched
entrance. West wall of south porch contains fragments of reused
sculptured stonework including part of C14 piscina, part of a
series of trefoil-headed openings, fragment of possible cross shaft
decorated with intertwined serpent motif, part of flat-chamfered
band with repeated trefoil/heart-shaped decoration. Carved C12
voussoir with cable moulding over porch entrance within porch.
Roof; steeply pitched roof to chancel. Stepped coping to chancel
and porch with upright cross finials.
Interior; 5 bay nave with pointed chancel arch dating from
restoration in 1875. Pointed Perpendicular arch from nave to tower
with engaged facetted jambs and moulded and facetted capitals.
Tierceron vault to tower with central bell opening and angel
corbels. C19 braced tie beams supported on fine Perpendicular face
corbels. Seven-facetted C19 roof trusses to chancel. Plain
coloured tiles forming geometric patterns to nave and chancel
floor. Lower half of C12 north door blocked, the upper part now
forming image niche. Remains of an elaborate C14 stone reredos in
east wall of chancel which formerly comprised 3 tall niches of
which 2 remain above a moulded brattished string terminating in
stops in the form of a king's and queen's head. Canted canopy to
each niche, crocketted cusped arches former crocketted pinnacles
above (now broken). Miniature lierne vault within each niche.
Easter sepulchre in the same style with heavy partly defaced canopy
in north wall of chancel. Remains of an Early English pillar
piscina in south wall. Small trefoil-headed credence shelf in
splay of south-east window. Furniture and fittings; C19
octagonal stone font adjacent to south door. C19 wooden pews and
pulpit. Monuments; small limestone monument on west wall of nave
right of tower arch to Samual Elyott, died 1667, and Elizabeth his
wife, died 1666. Painted inscription with heraldic shield at
bottom and cherub's head at top. Large limestone and marble
Baroque monument, by Reeve, on nave north wall to Giles Carter,
died 1664. Barley sugar columns either side of inscription, broken
segmental pediment and painted heraldic shield at top. Cherubs
above pediment. C19 benefaction board within tower. C19 stained
glass in chancel, geometric stained glass in west window and two
windows in nave wall.
(David Verey, The Buildings of England; The Cotswolds, 1979)

Listing NGR: SP1279119904

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Church of St Andrew at Wikipedia
• Wikidata Q17540589

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Lancashire: Manchester and the South-East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Yorkshire West Riding: Sheffield and the South (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Maintaining and Repairing Old Houses: A Guide to Conservation, Sustainability and Economy
• 
  Lancashire: Liverpool and the South-West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Dorset (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Sussex: West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)