Church of St Andrew Enfield Parish Church, Enfield, London

Description

ENFIELD

790/7/107 CHURCH WALK
19-MAR-51 (East side)
ENFIELD PARISH CHURCH
CHURCH WALK
(East side)
CHURCH OF ST ANDREW

(Formerly listed as:
CHURCH WALK
CHURCH OF ST ANDREW)

II*
DATES AND ARCHITECTS:
C12 origins; C15-16; 1824 restoration by W.C Lochner; 1852-3 restoation by J P St Anbyn; 1866-7 works by Sir George Gilbert Scott; further restoration by J O and CMO Scott, early C20.

MATERIALS:
An eclectic mix of materials including rubble with stone dressings, several types of C18 and C19 brick, and some flint. The medieval fabric is largely uncoursed rubble masonry with stone dressings, with some knapped flint in the N aisle. The S aisle and chapel, the nave E gable wall, the NE vestry and the N aisle parapet are brick, and there are patches of brick repairs in the N aisle. The S porch is part brick, part stone. Traces of render and limewash still adhere in places, and the E half of the vestry has modern render. Interior is plastered and painted, except for nave walls above arcade, which are painted over stripped stone and brick.

PLAN:
Rectangular, with aisled nave and chancel of equal length. Nave with 5-bay N and S arcades continuing into 2-bay arcades for the chancel chapels. Nave has W tower, S porch, polygonal N rood stair and a probable blocked N door. NE porch and vestry to NE of N chapel. Gallery, now organ loft, over W end of nave.

EXTERIOR:
A grand town church, both high and long. Unbuttressed W tower with high plinth and a string course with weathered heads below the parapet; the tower windows are late C14 of two traceried lights. The tower S door is C19 and is accessed by a short flight of external stairs. There is no stair turret, which, with the lack of buttresses, suggests an early original date for the tower.

The long nave is embattled and has N and S clerestories of the C16 (c.1522) with very depressed headed windows of 3 plain lights. The nave E gable wall was rebuilt in brick in the late C18.

The S aisle, S porch, S chapel and E part of S clerestory rebuilt in brick by W C Lochner in 1824 on the original foundations. Both aisle and chapel are much higher than their medieval predecessors, the lower part of which survive. Large 3-light late Perpendicular-style windows and a tall, false blocked lancet to the W of the porch. S porch partly brick, partly stone rubble and intended, like the aisle, to be rendered, has an octagonal plaster vault.

N aisle has very late C15 or early C16 windows with three foiled lights and hood moulds. Depressed-headed former N door blocked with brick, and a single cross in knapped flint in the centre of the N wall. Contemporary rood stair is polygonal and has stone dressings on the angles. There is a late medieval door with a 4-centred arch and modern, concrete jambs, possibly reset, at the W end of the N aisle, now converted to disabled use.

NE chapel has one window like those in the aisle, the other smaller with a square head and largely hidden behind the vestry. N chapel parapet in C18 brick. Chancel E end heavily restored, the E window C19 in a C14 Decorated style, 3 lights with a large cinquefoil, ogees and mouchettes, possibly based on the medieval E window shown mostly blocked in early engravings.

INTERIOR:
The interior is spacious and lofty. The internal core of the church is C14, but the windows are late medieval or C19. The roofs were all redone in the mid C19.

A blocked late C12 window is visible inside the tower and also high in the W wall of the nave behind the organ. No tower arch is visible behind the W gallery, and there is further blocking and a modern door below the gallery. The ground floor of the tower has been panelled, but the upper floors have exposed stonework and very heavy timber framing on stone corbels. The W gallery, originally the organ loft, subsequently used for seating, and now again the organ loft, is late C18 in origin. Of timber on iron columns, it has Gothick panelling of shouldered arches on the N and S sides and probably C19 panelling (possibly 1850s, like the pews) with plain, framed panels on the front.

The nave arcades and chancel arch are of late C14 form, with quatrefoil piers, moulded arches, capitals and bases. The chancel chapel arcade piers are very similar, but the capitals are slightly less complex, suggesting different campaigns of work. The nave clerestory was paid for by Sir Thomas Lovell c.1522, and several of his carved wing and rose badges remain high on the nave walls. A partial, blocked opening in the NE corner of the nave above the E respond capital of the N arcade by the chancel arch may be the remains of a former window from an unaisled nave. The upper and lower doors for the former rood stair are visible in the N aisle wall; there is an additional door towards the E end of the aisle to the C19 vestry. The S aisle retains the angel corbels from a medieval roof of a different pitch than the present roof. Both N and S aisles retain corbels for former galleries. The N and S aisle walls are panelled to dado height with C19 tiles in a polychrome, geometric pattern, but these have been painted over; there is painted mid C19 panelling in chapels.

The chancel has a C13 trefoil-headed lancet at the E end of the S wall that now opens into the S chapel. Its presence indicates that the church had reached its present length by that date. The C19 sedilia are larger than the medieval sedilia they replace. The chancel ceiling is covered with very unusual C19 decoration printed on paper. The E arch to the N chancel chapel, beyond the arcade, is partially blocked by the large monument to Lady Tiptoft (d. 1446), but the head of arch remains above the canopy of the monument. There is a blocked S door in S chancel chapel, and a blocked opening that may have been a squint between the chapel and the chancel.

FITTINGS:
Liturgical Fittings: Polygonal stone pulpit of 1866 with Gothic Revival arches, now painted white but possibly originally polychromed, and with a brass dedication plaque. Three-seat sedilia in chancel of 1852, of three pointed arches on single shafts with polychromed and gilded diaper work decoration on the back panel, replacing a smaller, medieval sedilia. C19 font with diaper carving in S chapel. C20 altarpiece of green and pale grey marble in the chancel with statues under square, gilded canopies.

Roofs: The roofs were all redone in 1866-7 by Sir George Gilbert Scott, but it is likely that the nave and N aisle roofs utilise corbels from the C16 roofs. The nave roof has tie beams with carved spandrels, the E truss painted and gilded. There are short posts with braces to the ridge. The N and S aisle roofs are similar, but do not have central posts or braces. The chancel roof is of 3 bays. Quite steeply pitched, it has moulded, arched trusses standing on small, timber corbels and moulded, square coffering.

Floors:
The chancel floor has a number of ledger slabs. The rest of the floors are largely woodblock parquet, probably C20, but this may cover earlier tiles.

Screens: Elegant Arts-and-Crafts Gothic screens of with delicate tracery between the chancel and N and S chapels, and between the S aisle and S chapel. With the choir stalls, they are a memorial to Prebendary Hodson, Vicar of Enfield 1870-1904.

Seating: One C18 box pew with fielded panelling survives at the E end of the N aisle at the entrance to the chapel. Known as the Bowles pew, it formerly belonged to the Bowles family of Myddleton House, who threatened legal action unless it was retained in the 1853 reseating. The rest of the nave and aisle pews are enclosed benches with slightly moulded top rails, and fielded ends and doors. Many of the doors survive. There are also a few C19 benches with shouldered ends at W end of the nave. The oak chancel seating, which has ornate Arts-and-Crafts gothic tracery panels, is 1908 as a memorial to Prebendary Hodson, Vicar of Enfield 1870-1904. The matching screens to N and S chapels are contemporary, and there is an inscription recording the gift.

Organ: Very fine carved organ case of 1753 by Richard Bridge, and paid for by Mary Nickells, who also paid for an organist. Originally in the W gallery, it was moved several times in the C19 and C20 and now returned to the W gallery.

Stained Glass: Most of the glass in the N, W and S sides was destroyed in WWII. In the S aisle, two small panels of C16 work, one the arms of Thomas Roos, 1st Earl of Rutland (d.1531), the other reassembled fragments of the nuns of Holywell weeping for Sir Thomas Lovell (d.1524), who lived at Elysing Hall opposite the church and was responsible for the nave clerestory. Chancel E window of 1873, with the Passion. N chapel E window to Sir Philip Twells, MP (d. 1880).

Decoration: The chancel ceiling has very unusual and rare C19 printed paper panels. The E bay has the Instruments of the Passion, the rest is repeated HIS monograms surrounded by foliage, and there is a Latin inscription on both sides. The chancel roof is painted to match. Possibly installed in 1873 when the E window with the Passion was installed. Delicate wall painting around the chancel arch of 1923 by Powells as a war memorial for WWI. There is a crucifixion scene above the arch, with the figures of St George and St Andrew below and two panels of poetry. The E truss of the nave roof has been painted to match, and has an inscription. It is likely that a darker, C19 colour scheme, including polychrome tiles at dado level in the nave, survives beneath the present white paint throughout the church as traces of it can be seen where the paint is peeling off.

Misc: In the N aisle, there is a very large benefaction board of 1772 comprised of two panels topped by a broken pediment. There is also a series of light oak panels of 1938 painted with the names of the vicars further east in the N aisle. In the N chapel positioned as a reredos, an oak bread shelf of 1614 with a plaque recording a gift of 1585. Three Tuscan columns supporting an entablature with a dentil cornice.

Monuments:
The church has a outstanding collection of medieval and post-medieval monuments, including, in an arch between the N chancel and the chancel, Joyce, Lady Tiptoft (d. 1446). Described as the finest brass in Middlesex (VCH), it has a female figure in a heraldic mantle under a complex architectural canopy. The setting of the brass, on a panelled tomb chest under a large four-centred arch with heraldry in the spandrels supporting a brattished cornice, is C16 and was probably part of the work undertaken in the 1520s by her grandson-in-law, Sir Thomas Lovell (d. 1524). The arch itself commemorates Edmund, Lord Roos (d.1508), Lovell's father-in-law. The tomb may have served as an Easter Sepulchre before the Reformation. It has been recoloured. Also in the chancel, Martha Palmer (d. 1617) by Nicholas Stone, an upright marble cartouche flanked by graceful, swaying mannerist figures of Faith and Charity; also a marble tablet to John Watt (d.1701), a flowery cartouche attributed to William Woodman Sen.

In the S chapel a brass to William (d. 1592) and Ellen Smith: the inscription notes that William Smith served Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I (perhaps, although it does not say, in Elsing Hall opposite the church). Large monument in white marble to Colonel Thomas Stringer (d.1706) by G B Guelfi, with a bust in armour under a large tent-like canopy with heavy drapery, and an entablature and broken pediment above. High on the S wall of the S chapel are two C17 monuments with kneeling figures, one to Francis Evington (1614), Alderman of London, the other to Henry Middlemore, Groom of the Privy Chamber to Queen Elizabeth I, and dated after his wife's death in 1610. The S chapel also has a group of C18 and early C19 lead plaques, presumably coffin plates from internal burials.

In the N chapel, a large alabaster and marble monument to Sir Nicholas Raynton (c.1646), with stiffly reclining figures of him and his wife in contemporary dress, lying one above the other, with kneeling figures of his son (d. 1641) and his wife and other children below; the top canopy has arms in a broken, segmental pediment; attributed to Thomas Burman, it has been recoloured. There is also a small wall monument to William Diecrowe (d.1586), with a kneeling figure in low relief under a rusticated Tuscan arch.

There are a large number of C18 and C19 monuments in the nave, including in the S aisle to the E of the S door, a number of wall plaques to members of the Garnault and Bowles families of Myddleton House and to several other local families. To the W of the S door, a double white marble plaque to members of the Boddington family, including Thomas Boddington (d. 1821), the noted slave owner and philanthropist, who was involved in the Committee for the Relief of the Black Poor and the foundation of Sierra Leone in the late C18.

SUBSIDIARY FEATURES:
The brick E boundary wall towards the vicarage is 1800 and has an inscription over the gate recording its construction. This section is listed (qv), but there are further unlisted boundary walls with late C18 or C19 ironwork including an arched wrought iron gate to the N of the churchyard. Immediately outside the churchyard is a small, embattled building now used as a parish room that is probably part of Lochner's work.

HISTORY:
Enfield was an enormous parish of over 14,000 acres and was a market town from the early C14 if not earlier. The majority of the western part of the parish was long a park called Enfield Chase, and there were several royal hunting lodges in the parish, including the demolished Elsing Hall, later called Enfield Palace (qv 5 Gentleman's Row), opposite the church.

The church dominated the northern side of a green and marketplace, part of which is still in use. A priest is mentioned in Domesday book, and while no visible fabric survives from this period, it is likely that there was already a large church there by that date. By the C12 the church had a substantial tower, and by the mid C13 it had achieved its present length, which together suggest the presence of a substantial earlier building. It was given to Walden abbey (Essex) in 1136, and the rectory was appropriated by Walden before the mid C13. The large vicarage to the E (qv) is partly C13. After the Dissolution it passed to Trinity College, Cambridge.

A priest in mentioned in Domesday, but there is no visible fabric of that date. The oldest fabric, the tower, appears to date to the C12, and a formerly external lancet in chancel shows that the church had attained its present length by the mid C13, making it very large for that date. The church underwent considerable rebuilding in the C14 when the chancel arch was rebuilt and the aisles and chancel chapels built. Early images show the S aisle with Decorated windows. More rebuilding was carried out in the very late C15 and early C16 when the clerestory was added and the outer walls of the chapels and the N aisle were rebuilt. The two-story, apparently timber-framed S porch shown in early prints was probably also C16 or early C17. There was considerable work on the church in the mid C18, including the insertion of galleries and the rebuilding of the nave E wall, apparently including widening the chancel arch. The S aisle, S chapel, S porch and part of the S clerestory was rebuilt on its original foundations in 1824 to designs by W C Lochner.

The parish church was well endowed by the many prosperous residents of Enfield Town and the surrounding hamlets, attracted by its proximity to London. There were 7 altars besides the high altar before the Reformation, and many gifts to the fabric, including bequests in the early C16 towards rebuilding the N aisle, chancel chapels and clerestory. There are also numerous monuments to wealthy residents, many of whom were successful in royal service or in the City of London. The church was ¿beautified¿ in 1705, and repaired and refurnished in 1771. Further work in the later C18 included rebuilding the chancel arch and nave E gable wall in 1779.

Despite its size, the church was much too small for the growing population by the early C19. A new gallery was put in the N aisle in 1819, and in 1824 the S aisle was rebuilt and raised to allow for another gallery to designs by W C Lochner. The E window, largely blocked by a large C18 reredos, was reopened in 1834. Some of the pressure on St Andrew's was lifted with the building of new churches (eg St James, Enfield Highway; Jesus Church, Forty Hill and Christchurch, Cockfosters, all 1830s, with others later) in the outer parts of the parish. The chancel was restored and refitted, and the church reseated in 1852-3 by J P St Aubyn. It was reroofed and the choir vestry added in 1866-7 to designs by Sir George Gilbert Scott, and there was further restoration and refurnishing in the early C20, apparently by J O and C M O Scott. The organ was moved into the W gallery in 1952. Alterations in the early 1850s, including reseating the whole church (except for the Bowles pew) and refurbishing the chancel caused controversy. Further restoration later in the century seems to have been less controversial, and the N and S galleries were removed in the early C20. The W gallery ceased to be use as seating after WWII and was re-converted to an organ loft.

SOURCES:
Lambeth Palace Library, Incorporated Church Building Society File 547
Baker, T F T and Pugh, R B eds, A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 5 (1976), pp. 245-249
Cherry, B and Pevsner, N. The Buildings of England London 4: North (1999), pp. 435-6 - has plan
Lysons, D, the Environs of London, 2 (1795), 278-334

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION:
Church of St Andrew, Enfield, is designated at Grade II* for the following principal reasons:
* A grand parish church retaining substantial medieval fabric and with a series of sympathetic post-medieval alterations reflecting the history of the parish.
* An outstanding collection of monuments from the C15-C19, including the finest brass in Middlesex and many sculpted monuments by well known masons.
* Very good early C20 fittings, notably the choir stalls and screens of 1908 and the mural decoration of 1923 around the chancel arch.

This List entry has been amended to add the source for War Memorials Register. This source was not used in the compilation of this List entry but is added here as a guide for further reading, 27 October 2017.

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Church of St Andrew Enfield Parish Church

A Grade II* Listed Building in Enfield, London

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