St Andrew's Church, Shotley, is a
redundant Anglican church standing in an isolated position at a height of on Greymare Hill in
Northumberland
Northumberland () is a ceremonial counties of England, county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Ab ...
, England. It is recorded in the
National Heritage List for England
The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, a ...
as a designated Grade II
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 is in the care of the
Churches Conservation Trust
The Churches Conservation Trust is a registered charity whose purpose is to protect historic churches at risk in England. The charity cares for over 350 churches of architectural, cultural and historic significance, which have been transferred in ...
.
History
The church was built in 1769 to replace an earlier church on the site.
[ It was superseded in 1837 by St John's Church, ]Snods Edge
Snods Edge is a small hamlet in South Northumberland, about from Consett. The name is thought to have derived from "snow's edge", referring to the hamlet's close proximity (about 5 km or 3 mi) to the North Pennines.
History
...
, Shotley Bridge, several miles to the south. In the 19th century St Andrew's suffered from subsidence due to mine workings, and it was remodelled in 1892. St Andrew's was declared redundant on 29 October 1971, and was vested
In law, vesting is the point in time when the rights and interests arising from legal ownership of a property is acquired by some person. Vesting creates an immediately secured right of present or future deployment. One has a vested right to an ...
in the Trust on 13 April 1973.
Architecture
St Andrew's is constructed in coursed rubble
Rubble is broken stone, of irregular size, shape and texture; undressed especially as a filling-in. Rubble naturally found in the soil is known also as 'brash' (compare cornbrash)."Rubble" def. 2., "Brash n. 2. def. 1. ''Oxford English Dictionar ...
with a slate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic ro ...
roof. Its plan is cruciform
Cruciform is a term for physical manifestations resembling a common cross or Christian cross. The label can be extended to architectural shapes, biology, art, and design.
Cruciform architectural plan
Christian churches are commonly described ...
with four equal arms, having a 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 ...
and chancel
In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse.
...
, and north and south transept
A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building with ...
s. Attached to the south transept is a gable
A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aest ...
d porch. Above the porch and on the sides of the nave and transepts are single-light round-headed windows. At the west end of the church is a pointed window over which is a plain arched bellcote
A bellcote, bell-cote or bell-cot is a small framework and shelter for one or more bells. Bellcotes are most common in church architecture but are also seen on institutions such as schools. The bellcote may be carried on brackets projecting from ...
. In the chancel there are paired lancet window
A lancet window is a tall, narrow window with a pointed arch at its top. It acquired the "lancet" name from its resemblance to a lance. Instances of this architectural element are typical of Gothic
Gothic or Gothics may refer to:
People and ...
s on the sides, and a two-light east window. Attached to the walls of the church are 18th-century headstones. Inside the chancel are a 19th-century credence table
A credence table is a small side table in the sanctuary of a Christian church which is used in the celebration of the Eucharist. (Latin ''credens, -entis'', believer).
The credence table is usually placed near the wall on the epistle (south) side ...
and a piscina
A piscina is a shallow basin placed near the altar of a church, or else in the vestry or sacristy, used for washing the communion vessels. The sacrarium is the drain itself. Anglicans usually refer to the basin, calling it a piscina. For Roman ...
. On the walls are memorial tablets. The fittings date from the 19th century and these include a screen across the north transept. In the vestry
A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government for a parish in England, Wales and some English colonies which originally met in the vestry or sacristy of the parish church, and consequently became known colloquial ...
is a small 18th-century fireplace. There are stone benches in the porch.[
]
External features
In the churchyard, to the northeast of the church, is the Hopper Mausoleum, which is a Grade I listed building. Also in the churchyard are three Grade II listed buildings; these are a hearse house, the Chatt headstone, and the Gibson headstone.
See also
*
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shotley, St Andrew's Church
Grade II listed churches in Northumberland
Churches completed in 1769
18th-century Church of England church buildings
Churches completed in 1892
Churches preserved by the Churches Conservation Trust