St Andrew's Church is an

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), 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 com ...

in the centre of

Farnham Farnham 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 tributary of the ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

. It is a Grade I

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

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 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

. It is in the Archdeaconry of Surrey, in the Diocese of Guildford. The churchyard contains the grave of the political activist William Cobbett, and there is a memorial to the hymn-writer 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 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

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'' the offic ...

, 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 fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

, 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 to get a

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' () 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 who are as ...

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 set of Church service, Christian liturgical celebrations for the dead (made up of the Requiem Mass and the Office of the Dead), or # a chantr ...

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

Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

. 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-type ...

. 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, who was the Archdeacon of Surrey and then went on to be the first Bishop suffragan of Guildford. 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 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 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. It is carved with sacred monograms and symbols representing the

four evangelists In Christian tradition, the Four Evangelists are Matthew the Apostle, Matthew, Mark the Evangelist, Mark, Luke the Evangelist, Luke, and John the Evangelist, John, the authors attributed with the creation of the four canonical Gospel accounts ...

. 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 1812 – 14 September 1852) was an English architect, designer, artist and critic with French and Swiss origins. He is principally remembered for his pioneering role in the Gothic Revival architecture ...

, 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 a copy of 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 products and the Make Poverty History campaign. In 2022 the church was used as a location in the BBC One television mini-series '' Inside Man'', with David Tennant 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

References

External links