Norwich, St Andrew

At first I thought that St Andrew, locked, no keyholder, was redundant but a quick Google search shows it's still in use - they just don't want you to visit outside of Sunday mass times.

ST ANDREW, Broad Street. Placed a little above the street. Perp throughout. The W tower, which has no proper parapet nor battlements, was built in 1478, the rest - see the inscription of I547 inside, on the W wall of the S aisle - in 1506. Only the frieze of shields above the E window is older and re-set. The heraldry connects it with Appleyard, the first Mayor of Norwich, who lived in what is now the Bridewell Museum just opposite to the S and died in 1419. That the W tower is earlier than the present church is evident from the way the porches from the S and N lead against walls of the tower meant to be visible - see the base frieze. The aisles continue the porches to the E, i.e. the doorways from the porches into the church lead E. The tower has panelled buttresses. Some flushwork decoration on the N side. A frieze of shields above the W doorway. The aisles, clerestory, and chancel are ashlar-faced, the porches have exposed flint. The porch entrances have traceried spandrels. In the N porch also a tall niche above it. Frieze of shields at the base of the chancel. Specially pretty tracery in the chancel N and S windows. Large four-light aisle windows. Clerestory with eleven closely set windows. Tall five-bay arcades, the piers with four shafts and in the diagonals four long shallow hollows. Four-centred arches. Blank panelling above them. Very tall tower arch dying into the imposts. The aisle windows are set in wall-arches. - Much of the FURNISHINGS is High Victorian, especially the FONT, the stone PULPIT and low stone SCREEN of 1870, the REREDOS etc. of 1856, and the ORGAN CASE of 1908. - The FONT COVER is dated 1637. Four columns, openwork obelisk in the middle, octagonal canopy with a ball at the top. - PLATE. Elizabethan Chalice (Norwich); Paten Cover inscribed 1568 (Norwich); very ornate Chalice and Cover (London) 1617-18 ; Paten (London) 1670-1; Almsdish and two Flagons (London) 1704-5. - MONUMENTS. Unusually many. In the chancel Brass of a Civilian, early C16, the figure 3 ft long. - In the N chapel: Robert Suckling d. 1589, with the usual kneelers facing one another; Francis Rugge d. 1607, in flat relief without effigies; Robert Garsett, 1613, frontal bust under arch with two small kneeling figures l. and r; also Sir John Suckling (to his wife who died in 1613). This is a standing monument of alabaster with her recumbent and him reclining on his elbow. Stiff figures. They lie on a black slab which is not the lid of the tomb-chest but carried by four skulls on the tomb-chest. Columns l. and r. carrying a superstructure. Children kneel by their heads and feet, others against the tomb-chest. Many inscriptions, large and small; for instance SPARISCO with a flame rising out of an urn, and SCIOLTA with a dove released from a cage. Also, where the son kneels; ‘Frater mater nostra non morta est sed dormit’. - In the S aisle Dr Thomas Crowe d.1751 by Robert Page, with arms in front of an obelisk, and John Custance d. 1752 by Rawlins, also in a very nice Rococo. - In the N aisle Hambleton Custance d. 1757, also by Rawlins. This has a weeping putto in front of an obelisk. - On the w wall Richard Demmison d. 1768. Turning neo-classical. - (Also canopy of the lost brass of John Gilbert d. 1467, children from brass of John Holly d. 1527.)

Clustering between the river, the castle, and the cathedral are seven old churches and a great building which was once the church of a Dominican priory. In the street bearing its name is St Andrew’s, second in size and importance only to St Peter Mancroft. It comes from an ancient structure rebuilt in 1506, except for the tower, which was made new in 1478. Great windows fill it with light. Lofty arcades run from east to west, and over them is the clerestory with 11 windows on each side. Oak angels support the shafts of a roof with original moulded beams and carved wallplates. There are three sedilia with rich canopies: a chest, a chair, and the font cover are 17th century and all carved; the tower screen has much of its old work; the old glass in the north aisle windows is a colourful jumble with figures and shields and scenes, one having a skeleton standing by a bishop.

There are brass portraits of a man in a fur-lined robe and his wife in kennel headdress; she has a purse and beads, and both are at prayer. Robert Garsett’s wall monument of Shakespeare’s day shows him in red robe and ruff, and two small kneeling figures in high hats. There is an inscription with the thrilling name of Abraham Lincolne of 1758, perhaps uncle of the American President. In the north chapel (now a memorial to men who fell in the war) is the big canopied tomb of Sir John Suckling of 1613 and his wife, parents of the poet Suckling. Sir John reclines in armour, his wife lies in Elizabethan dress, and one son kneels at their head, another at their feet. Four daughters kneel on the front of the tomb, the top of which is raised on four skulls to show the shrouded figure lying within. On the canopy are women playing fiddles. Robert Suckling of 1589 kneels with his wife in a wall monument, their children behind them; in the spandrels are Father Time and cherubs playing cup-ball.

The Sucklings were ancestors of Nelson, who came to this church when a boy at the grammar school. Suckling House, their old home near the east end of the church, where the poet’s father was born, was built perhaps before the Black Death which took away most of the population of Norwich. It has been much restored, but the hall has its fine trussed roof, and a door with beautiful carving which was here before Robert Suckling came in 1564. The Suckling motto, Thynk and Thank God, is carved on remains of an Elizabethan fireplace. In the old walling is a 14th-century doorway opening to the hall from outside, and a vaulted passage leads to a small courtyard. On a tablet outside are names of people who have lived here, from William de Roolesby of 1285, and in one of the modern windows are some of their arms. Used now as a public hall and offices, the old house was given to the city by the Colmans in memory of a sister, together with the modern Stuart Hall joining it. Facing Suckling House is Armada House with overhanging storeys, an oak corbel with 1589, and a panel showing a ship in full sail.

It was outside St Andrew’s church that Kett and his rebels shot clouds of arrows and were routed by Captain Drury and his harquebusiers. Facing the church are the two halls which were originally the great Dominican church rebuilt by Sir Thomas Erpingham. Since the Dissolution the nave and its aisles have been a banqueting and concert hall, 126 feet long and nearly 70 wide. Known as St Andrew’s Hall, it has arcades of seven bays soaring to the fine range of clerestory windows (28 in all), a great hammerbeam roof, and a gallery of many portraits. The last one for which Nelson sat has pride of place; it is by Sir William Beechey. Herkomer painted Sir J. J. Colman, and two mayors are by Opie. The portrait of Sir Harbord Harbord (Lord Suffield) is by Gainsborough. The choir, now known as Blackfriars Hall, was long used by the Dutch settlers in the city, and in it Sir Thomas Browne was knighted by Charles the Second. Bigger than many churches, it has enormous windows and a fine roof with bosses of angels and flowers. Here, too, is a gallery of portraits. Below a brass inscription to Theophilus Ellison, parson to the Dutch community, are photographs of portraits of him and his wife painted by Rembrandt. Theophilus sleeps in the middle of this old choir.

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