St Andrew's Church is located in the village of

Westhall Westhall is a village and civil parish in the East Suffolk district, in the county Suffolk, England about north east of Halesworth, south west of Brampton and south of Beccles, close to the A145. The mid-2005 population estimate for West ...

near

Halesworth Halesworth is a market town, civil parish and Wards and electoral divisions of the United Kingdom, electoral ward in north-eastern Suffolk, England. The population stood at 4,726 in the 2011 Census. It lies south-west of Lowestoft, on a tribut ...

. It is an active

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 deanery of Waveney and Blyth, part of the archdeaconry of Suffolk, and the

Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich The Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich is a Church of England diocese based in Ipswich, covering Suffolk (excluding Lowestoft). The cathedral is St Edmundsbury Cathedral, and the bishop is the Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich. It is part ...

Layout

The west door of Westhall Church Suffolk by Henry Davy

The church is of flint construction and comprises a nave, south

aisle An aisle is a linear space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, in buildings such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, parliaments, courtrooms, ...

chancel and tower. The church has a non-standard design and layout. The tower, dating from the 13th century with a post-Reformation bell-stage, splits into both a northern and easterly direction. The eastern section being a

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 9th and 10th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norma ...

construct, while to the north is a large 13th-century thatched

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 ...

containing 19th-century pews. Beyond the nave is a 14th-century

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

. The unusual layout is due to the church having been extended from the original Norman building and the original church becoming what is now the church's south aisle. The eastern entrance dates from around 1100 and stonework including depictions of humans and animals including bird head grotesques and human-animal hybrids as well as unfinished faces are still visible.

Font and screens

Located in the nave is a font with eight panels, seven of which are sacramental panels depicting the

Sacraments of the Catholic Church There are seven sacraments of the Catholic Church, which according to Catholic theology were instituted by Jesus Christ and entrusted to the Church. Sacraments are visible rites seen as signs and efficacious channels of the grace of God to all ...

. The panel depicting the Eucharistic sacrament was used as the cover illustration for

Eamon Duffy Eamon Duffy (born 9 February 1947) is an Irish historian. He is the emeritus professor of the History of Christianity at the University of Cambridge, and a fellow and former president of Magdalene College. Early life Duffy was born on 9 Februa ...

's book ''

The Stripping of the Altars ''The Stripping of the Altars: Traditional Religion in England, 1400–1580'' is a work of history written by Eamon Duffy and published in 1992 by Yale University Press. It received the Longman-''History Today'' Book of the Year Award. Sum ...

''. The eighth panel shows the baptism of Christ. The nave also contains a painted screen depicting various saints. The south side of the screen shows the Saints Etheldreda,

Sitha Zita (27 April 1272), also known as Sitha or Citha, is an Italian saint, the patron saint of maids and domestic servants. She is often appealed to in order to help find lost keys. Zita entered domestic service at the age of 12, and served t ...

, Agnes,

Brigit of Kildare Saint Brigid of Kildare or Saint Brigid of Ireland (; Classical Irish: ''Brighid''; ; ) is the patroness saint (or 'mother saint') of Ireland, and one of its three national saints along with Patrick and Columba. According to medieval Irish ...

Catherine of Alexandria Catherine of Alexandria, also spelled Katherine, was, according to tradition, a Christian saint and Virginity, virgin, who was martyred in the early 4th century at the hands of the emperor Maxentius. According to her hagiography, she was both a ...

Dorothy Dorothy may refer to: *Dorothy (given name), a list of people with that name. Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Dorothy'' (TV series), 1979 American TV series * Dorothy Mills, a 2008 French movie, sometimes titled simply ''Dorot ...

Margaret of Antioch Margaret, known as Margaret of Antioch in the West, and as Saint Marina the Great Martyr () in the East, is celebrated as a saint on 20 July in Western Christianity, on 30th of July (Julian calendar) by the Eastern Orthodox Church, and on Epip ...

and Apollonia. The north side of the screen contains images of Saint James,

St Leonard Leonard of Noblac (also Leonard of Limoges or Leonard of Noblet; also known as Lienard, Linhart, Lenart, Leonhard, Léonard, Leonardo, Annard; died 559) is a Frankish saint closely associated with the town and abbey of Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat, ...

Saint Michael Michael, also called Saint Michael the Archangel, Archangel Michael and Saint Michael the Taxiarch is an archangel and the warrior of God in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. The earliest surviving mentions of his name are in third- and second- ...

and Saint Clement. Alongside these images on the north side are depictions of the

Transfiguration of Jesus The Transfiguration of Jesus is an event described in the New Testament where Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is Transfiguration (religion), transfigured and becomes radiant in Glory (religion), glory upon a mountain. The Synoptic Gospels (, , ) r ...

. Christ on a mountain top between the two figures of Moses and Elijah. It is the only surviving medieval screen representation of the Transfiguration in England. The final panel on the north side depicts

Saint Anthony of Egypt Anthony the Great (; ; ; ; – 17 January 356) was a Christian monk from Egypt, revered since his death as a saint. He is distinguished from other saints named Anthony, such as , by various epithets: , , , , , and . For his importance among t ...

Wall paintings

Located on the north wall is a painting of

Saint Christopher Saint Christopher (, , ; ) is venerated by several Christian denominations. According to these traditions, he was a martyr killed in the reign of the 3rd-century Roman Empire, Roman emperor Decius (), or alternatively under the emperor Maximin ...

and other figures including

Moses In Abrahamic religions, Moses was the Hebrews, Hebrew prophet who led the Israelites out of slavery in the The Exodus, Exodus from ancient Egypt, Egypt. He is considered the most important Prophets in Judaism, prophet in Judaism and Samaritani ...

. Other wall paintings include a flower-surrounded consecration cross beside the south door and a niche alcove in the eastern side of a window in the south wall. Alongside the painted niche and consecration cross there are surviving traces of a large painting consisting of seven large roundels surrounded in leafwork.

Monuments and brass-work

In the south-east corner of the church is the tomb of Nicholas Bohun (1602) which includes a brass plaque. On the south wall is the coat of arms of

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland, Ireland from 25 October 1760 until his death in 1820. The Acts of Union 1800 unified Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and ...

. In the chancel are located the remains of two Chalice brasses. The chancel ceiling depicts the

Holy Trinity The Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the Christian doctrine concerning the nature of God, which defines one God existing in three, , consubstantial divine persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ) and God the Holy Spirit, three ...

, with

God the Father God the Father is a title given to God in Christianity. In mainstream trinitarian Christianity, God the Father is regarded as the first Person of the Trinity, followed by the second person, Jesus Christ the Son, and the third person, God th ...

holding the Crucified

Christ Jesus ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Christianity, central figure of Christianity, the M ...

between his knees.

Listed status

St Andrew's Church was listed at Grade I on 1 September 1953.

Notes

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Westhall, Saint Andrew Church of England church buildings in Suffolk 13th-century church buildings in England Grade I listed churches in Suffolk