St Andrew's Enfield is a

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

church in Enfield, London, and the original

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 activitie ...

of Enfield. It is a

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 Ire ...

with

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked w ...

.CHURCH OF ST ANDREW ENFIELD PARISH CHURCH.
Historic England. Retrieved 29 March 2016.

History

St Andrew's Church, Enfield - East end - geograph

The first written evidence of there being a Parish Church in Enfield dates from 1136 when St Andrew's, along with a number of other neighbouring parishes, was endowed to the Monastery at Walden in Essex, now

Saffron Walden Saffron Walden is a market town in the Uttlesford district of Essex, England, north of Bishop's Stortford, south of Cambridge and north of London. It retains a rural appearance and some buildings of the medieval period. The population was 15, ...

. In 1190, Abbot Reginald of Walden appointed Robertus to serve as the first Vicar of Enfield. The earliest known parts of St Andrew's date from the years immediately following the appointment of Robertus. Part of the east wall of the church and the south wall of the sanctuary date from this period, including the lancet-shaped unglazed window in the south wall of the sanctuary, opening today into the Artillery Chapel. Originally, of course, this south wall formed the external wall of the church and there are even traces in this window aperture of the sockets for the iron framework of the glass. The 14th century saw much restoration and major enlargements to the church, including the construction of the north and south aisles (although the south aisle was much lower than the north, being raised to its present height only in 1824). The church tower is also 14th century, although much restored and altered in later years. The arches in 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 ...

date from this same period. The pitch pine

pew A pew () is a long bench seat or enclosed box, used for seating members of a congregation or choir in a church, synagogue or sometimes a courtroom. Overview The first backless stone benches began to appear in English churches in the thi ...

s were installed after much argument and dispute in 1853; the oak clergy and choir stalls in 1908 as a memorial to Prebendary Hodson, Vicar of Enfield from 1870 - 1904, and the painting over the

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. ...

arch in 1923 as a memorial to the men of Enfield who died in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...

. A curious epitaph in the churchyard to Thomas Carter, who died in 1742, reads:

Gallery

File:St Andrew's Church, Enfield - Churchyard - geograph.org.uk - 1547867.jpg, File:St Andrew's Church, Enfield - Font - geograph.org.uk - 1547851.jpg, File:St Andrew's Church, Enfield - Pulpit - geograph.org.uk - 1547702.jpg, File:St Andrew's Church, Enfield - Sanctuary - geograph.org.uk - 1547861.jpg, File:St Andrew's Church, Enfield - Wall painting - geograph.org.uk - 1547853.jpg, File:St Andrew's Church, Enfield - West end - geograph.org.uk - 1547833.jpg,

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Enfield, Saint Andrew

Saint Andrew Andrew the Apostle ( grc-koi, Ἀνδρέᾱς, Andréās ; la, Andrēās ; , syc, ܐܰܢܕ݁ܪܶܐܘܳܣ, ʾAnd’reʾwās), also called Saint Andrew, was an apostle of Jesus according to the New Testament. He is the brother of Simon Pete ...

14th-century church buildings in England Diocese of London Grade II* listed churches in London

Grade II* listed monuments and memorials Enfield, London History of the London Borough of Enfield World War I memorials in England