St Andrew's Church is an

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of t ...

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, ...

in the centre of

Farnham Farnham ( /ˈfɑːnəm/) is a market town and civil parish in Surrey, England, around southwest of London. It is in the Borough of Waverley, close to the county border with Hampshire. The town is on the north branch of the River Wey, a tri ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant ur ...

. It is a Grade I

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 I ...

and surviving parts of the structure date back to the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

. It in the Archdeaconry of Surrey, in the

Diocese of Guildford __NOTOC__ The Diocese of Guildford is a Church of England diocese covering eight and half of the eleven districts in Surrey, much of north-east Hampshire and a parish in Greater London. The cathedral is Guildford Cathedral and the bishop is the ...

. The churchyard contains the grave of William Cobbett and there is a memorial to Augustus Toplady.

History

In 2005–06, a conservation and development project uncovered the foundations of a 7th-century Saxon church. No written record of this church survives. The oldest record is in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

of 1086, which states that the Manor of Farnham was held by the

Bishop of Winchester The Bishop of Winchester is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Winchester in the Church of England. The bishop's seat (''cathedra'') is at Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire. The Bishop of Winchester has always held ''ex officio'' (except ...

, and that the church was 'richly endowed'.The Story of St Andrew's
from St Andrew's Farnham, accessed 6 March 2013 The oldest parts of the building date from the middle to the late 12th century, between 1150 and 1170. It was also around that time that the Archdeaconry of Surrey was created, and the new archdeacon used Farnham, and its

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

, as a centre from which to visit the rest of

. In 1399, work on the chancel and the east end of the church was finished. The perpendicular window at the east end of the church remains unaltered since that time. On 22 June 1399, the bishop ordered the church to be consecrated. On 16 February 1487, the parish obtained a licence from

King Henry VII Henry VII (28 January 1457 – 21 April 1509) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizure of the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death in 1509. He was the first monarch of the House of Tudor. Henry's mother, Margaret Beaufort, ...

to get a

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy ...

for the church. In addition, a

chantry chapel A chantry is an ecclesiastical term that may have either of two related meanings: # a chantry service, a Christian liturgy of prayers for the dead, which historically was an obiit, or # a chantry chapel, a building on private land, or an area ...

was built on the north side of the church, dedicated to the

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...

. In the early 16th century, a new tower was built at the west end of the church; it was quite small, rising up no more than a couple of metres above the roof of 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-typ ...

. Later, with Henry VIII's Abolition of Chantries Acts in 1545 and 1547, the chantry chapel was abolished, the objects it contained were sold off, and it was turned into a school room. In 1758, it was sold off and demolished to pay for church repairs. The 19th century saw extensive restoration work done to the church. Most of it was done due to the efforts of

John Utterton John Sutton Utterton was the first Bishop of Guildford (then a suffragan bishop in the Diocese of Winchester) in the last third of the 19th century. Born in 1814 and educated at Oriel College, Oxford, he was perpetual curate of Holmwood, recto ...

, who was the

Archdeacon of Surrey The Archdeaconry of Surrey is the ecclesiastical officer in charge of the archdeaconry of Surrey, a subdivision of the Church of England Diocese of Guildford in the Province of Canterbury. History The whole archdeaconry was historically in the ...

and then went on to be the first

Bishop suffragan of Guildford The Bishop of Guildford was a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Winchester in the Province of Canterbury. In the late nineteenth century there were three suffragan bishops of Guildford appointed to assist six successive Bishops ...

. In 1836, gas lighting was installed in the church and from 1855, a thorough restoration of the church was enacted: The nave and the aisles were re-seated, the galleries were removed and the transepts were enlarged to be able to hold gallery seating. In 1865, the tower was built upon, to a height of , its present size.

James Conway Brown James Conway Brown (1838 – 1908) was a Welsh musician. His father was also called James Brown, and was one of the proprietors of the Blaina iron-works, Monmouthshire for a time. James attended Camberwell Collegiate School and King's College ...

took up the position of organist of the church in 1879. In the 20th century, more modifications were made to the church. In 1909, the south chapel was restored and renamed the Lady Chapel. 1956 saw a big restoration under the direction of the architect, David Nye. The altar was moved to a more central location within the church and the organ and choir stalls were moved from the transepts. From 1990 to 2005, fundraising and planning efforts were made for a large-scale conservation project that would reinforce and repair the building's structure and foundations. £1.3 million was raised and

Ptolemy Dean Ptolemy Hugo Dean (born 1968) is a British architect, television presenter and the 19th Surveyor of the Fabric of Westminster Abbey. He specialises in historic preservation, as well as designing new buildings that are in keeping with their histo ...

was given the role as architect for the development phase of the work. The tower and clock were restored, the buttresses were rebuilt and the Victorian pews were replaced with chairs.

Features

In the south transept of the church is a 15th-century

baptismal font A baptismal font is an article of church furniture used for baptism. Aspersion and affusion fonts The fonts of many Christian denominations are for baptisms using a non-immersive method, such as aspersion (sprinkling) or affusion (pouring). ...

. It is carved with sacred monograms and symbols representing the four evangelists. It was moved in the renovations of 1959, from the doorway to the south transept. It was presented to the church in the 1830s by a family called Barlow, but it is unknown how it came to be in their possession. The stonework of the east window has not changed since the

, but the present glass was installed in the 19th century. It was designed by the notable architect,

Augustus Pugin Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin ( ; 1 March 181214 September 1852) was an English architect, designer, artist and critic with French and, ultimately, Swiss origins. He is principally remembered for his pioneering role in the Gothic Revival st ...

, and made by Hardman & Co. in 1851. It shows an example of Pugin designing in a style that he found problematic at times, showing elaborate group compositions under canopies and illustrating events from the life of Christ. Outside the church entrance is the grave of the political reformer William Cobbett (1763–1835). He was born, baptised and grew up in Farnham. There is also a memorial to him on the church's tower wall.Ian Dyck, �
Cobbett, William (1763–1835)
��, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004, accessed 7 March 2013. On display at the back of the church is the Vinegar Bible; it was presented to the church in 1731 by Arthur Onslow.St Andrew's Church
from Farnham.gov.uk, accessed 6 March 2013 Also in the church is a plaque to Augustus Toplady, who wrote the hymn ‘Rock of Ages’. He was born in Farnham and baptised in the parish church in 1740.

Parish

Next door to the church is St Andrew's Primary School. The church enjoys a close relationship with the school which is also a church controlled school; classes occasionally visit the church for acts of worship. The church is open every day with morning and evening prayer on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Sunday communion services are at 8am and 10am, with evening prayer at 6pm. By having chairs in the church instead of pews, the church is able to host various concerts, plays, art exhibitions, school events, receptions and public meetings. Also the church has mission and outreach groups that promote

Fairtrade A fair trade certification is a product certification within the market-based movement fair trade. The most widely used fair trade certification is FLO International's, the International Fairtrade Certification Mark, used in Europe, Africa, Asi ...

products and the

Make Poverty History Make Poverty History are organizations in a number of countries, which focus on issues relating to 8th Millennium Development Goal such as aid, trade and justice. They generally form a coalition of aid and development agencies which work togethe ...

campaign. In 2022 the church was used as a location in the

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

television mini-series ''

Inside Man ''Inside Man'' is a 2006 American heist thriller film directed by Spike Lee and written by Russell Gewirtz. It centers on an elaborate bank heist on Wall Street over a 24-hour period. The film stars Denzel Washington as Detective Keith ...

'', with

David Tennant David John Tennant (''né'' McDonald; born 18 April 1971) is a Scottish actor. He rose to fame for his role as the tenth incarnation of the Doctor (2005–2010 and 2013) in the BBC science-fiction TV show ''Doctor Who'', reprising the rol ...

as Reverend Harry Watling.

Gallery

File:William Cobbett grave, St Andrew's Church, Farnham.JPG, William Cobbett's grave File:Sr. Andrew, Farnham - geograph.org.uk - 1763578.jpg, View down upper church lane File:St andrew farnham.jpg, East side of the church File:Farnham Parish Church, East Window - geograph.org.uk - 746051.jpg, East window File:St Andrew's Church from Gostrey Meadows Farnham.jpg, View of church from Gostrey Meadow, Farnham File:St Andrew's Church from Bishop's Meadow Farnham Surrey.JPG, St Andrew's Church from the Bishop's Meadow, Farnham File:St Andrew's Church from Farnham Library Gardens.JPG, St Andrew's Church from Farnham Library Gardens File:St Andrew's Church from Farnham Castle.JPG, View of the church from

Farnham Castle Farnham Castle is a 12th-century castle in Farnham, Surrey, England. It was formerly the residence of the Bishops of Winchester. History Built in 1138 by Henri de Blois, Bishop of Winchester, grandson of William the Conqueror, Farnham castle ...

References

External links