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St Andrew

Great Yeldham

Essex

Parish church, mainly C14

Architectural Features

Roofs of W tower and N aisle of lead, others of handmade red clay tiles.

Chancel, Nave and N aisle c.1350, S tower c.1400 later converted to S porch, S chapel

W tower late C15, upper room

brick gable over S porch added in early C16, S vestry, organ-chamber and general restoration C19.

In the N wall are 2 mid-C14 windows

the splays are cut square, with trefoiled and sub-cusped heads, C14.

The mid-C14 Chancel arch is 2-centred and moulded, and has moulded responds with moulded capitals and bases.

The screen is late C15, restored, of 6 bays with cinquefoiled ogee and sub-cusped heads, tracery above them, buttresses and pinnacles between the bays, moulded and crenellated cornice and moulded middle rail, close lower panels with traceried heads, the 4 lower panels on the S side with remains of painted figures (a) almost obliterated (b) of St. Ursula with arrow and book (c) bishop or abbot with claw-hammer, probably St. Eloy (d) St. Edmund the King.

On each side of the chancel-arch is a C15 squint with cinquefoiled ogee head on the E face and a V-head on the W face.

The Nave has a N arcade of 2 bays, c.1350

To the E there is an opening, mainly C19, but incorporating a quatrefoil drain in the sill, C14.

In the S wall there is a 4-centred arch, late C15, of 2 chamfered orders on the S side and one continuous moulded order on the N side

Further W is the late C14 S doorway, with moulded and chamfered jambs and 2-centred arch, and segmental-pointed rear-arch.

Near the W end of the wall is a blocked doorway leading to the stair-turret of the former S tower, with chamfered jambs and a moulded 2-centred arch, late C14.

The N aisle has in the E wall a window which is mainly C19, except the moulded splays and segmental-pointed rear-arch, c.1350.

In the N wall are 2 windows, mainly C19 except the splays and the segmental-pointed rear-arch of the western window, C14.

The window in the W wall is C19, except some re-used jamb-stones and the moulded splays and rear-arch, C14.

The S chapel has in the S wall a window which is mainly C19, except the lower part of the moulded splays, C15.

In the S wall there is a piscina with moulded jambs, cinquefoil ogee head and quatrefoil drain, C14.

The W tower was built entirely c.1490.

the middle merlon on each side has a carved figure of an angel, and there are crocketed pinnacles at the angles

The S porch is the ground stage of the mid-C14 S tower, never finished.

flanking it are small pilasters finished with gablets, pinnacles and carved finials.

to each side of it there is a niche with moulded jambs, pointed head and ogee label, crocketed, and with carved finials and stops, C14.

In the porch is a stoup having an arched recess with hollow-moulded edge, a rectangular well, with cusped designs below it, probably C14.

The font has an octagonal bowl with moulded lower edge, the stem panelled on 5 sides only, possibly late C15.

The pulpit is octagonal with arcaded panels enriched with guilloche ornament and moulded top, early C17.

There are brasses on the W wall of the S chapel (1) to Elizabeth (Quarles), wife of John Symonds, 1666, inscription only (2) to Richard Symonds, 1627 and Elizabeth (Plume) his wife, plate with kneeling figures of man, woman, 5 sons and one daughter, and shield of arms (3) to Orlando Fitzsymonds, 1691, inscription only.

There are monuments on the N wall of the chancel to Elizabeth Tripp, 1785, oval tablet of white marble, and (2) to the dowager Viscountess Bateman, 1769, with Ionic pilasters, pediment, and cartouche of arms.

In the S chapel there are monuments on the E wall (1) to Richard Fitzsymonds, 1680, tablet with carved drapery, cherub-heads and cartouche of arms (2) to Susanna (Bastwick), wife of Dr. Burgoyne, 1685, black and white marble tablet with entabulature broken pediment and cartouche of arms (3) to Gregory Lewis Way, 1799, white marble tablet with urn on grey marble ground

and on the W wall, to John Symonds, 1692, black and white marble tablet with carved pilasters, entablature supporting cherubs and cartouche of arms.

the third and fourth are by Miles Graye, 1660, the latter recast in 1908

and the fifth is by William Land, 1612, recast in 1908.