Description

TL 64 SE HELIONS BUMPSTEAD CHURCH HILL
2/28 Parish Church of
21/6/62 St. Andrew

GV II*

Parish church, C13 and later. Plastered flint rubble with dressings of
limestone and clunch. W tower, S porch and vestry of red brick roofed with
handmade red clay tiles. Chancel mid-C13, Nave possibly older but date
uncertain, S arcade mid-C14, S aisle rebuilt early C16 and repaired in C19,
clerestorey early C16, W tower, S porch and vestry early C19. The Chancel has a
C15 E window of 3 cinquefoiled lights with restored mullions and tracery under a
2-centred head with drip-mould; the external reveals are hollow-moulded. At the
W end of the N wall is a mid-C13 lancet window, rebated and chamfered
externally, with chamfered rear-arch. In the S wall are 3 similar windows; the
sill of the easternmost is carried down to form a seat; the westernmost is a
low-side window of which the lower part is blocked. Between the 2 westernmost
windows is a doorway of uncertain date with chamfered jambs and 2-centred head,
plain ledged door and draw-bar holes. There is a piscina with chamfered jambs,
2-centred head and hexagonal drain, probably C13. The 2-centred chancel arch is
mid-C13, restored; it is of 2 moulded orders with keeled attached shafts,
moulded capitals and bases. The N wall of the Nave has 2 windows, each of 2
cinquefoiled lights and tracery, restored, with 2-centred head and rear-arch.
Further W is the late C15 N doorway, now blocked externally; it has hollow-
chamfered jambs and 2-centred rear-arch. The S arcade is of 4 bays, mid-C14,
altered in the early C16 when the S aisle was rebuilt; the 2-centred arches are
of 2 chamfered orders, the piers octagonal with moulded capitals and bases; the
E respond is obscured by plaster below the moulded capital, and the W respond
has a semi-octagonal attached shaft with a moulded capital and no base. The
clerestorey has on both sides 4 early C16 windows each of 2 uncusped lights with
Y-tracery under a 4-centred head; the middle 2 on each side are blocked. The S
aisle retains a little mid-C14 structure at the W end but was largely rebuilt in
the early C16 and substantially rebuilt in brick in the early C19. The early
C16 S doorway has moulded jambs and 2-centred arch under a square-head, with
segmental-pointed rear-arch. W of it is a blocked window forming an internal
recess. In the W wall is a C20 window with segmental-pointed rear-arch. The
Nave roof is plastered, semi-elliptical; the aisle roof is C19. The W tower was
built in 1812, but the tower-arch is circa 1400, 2-centred, of 4 chamfered
orders. The responds have semi-octagonal attached shafts with moulded capitals
and bases; the W half of the arch has C17 graffiti and is cut off by the C19
wall. There is a consecration cross on the NE buttress of the Nave, incised
cross formy, reworked. The font is octagonal, the bowl and stem with cusped
panels, C15. C15 woodwork is re-used in the C19 pulpit, S door, and seating.
There are 8 bells and a clock-bell, the third by Miles Graye, 1647, the fifth by
Miles Graye, undated, and the sixth by Miles Graye, 1641. On the N wall of the
Chancel there are monuments (1) to Devereux Tallakarne, 1627, and Mary (Steward)
his wife, tablet with terminal figures, entablature and oblisks, 3 shields and
defaced inscriptions, (2) to William Gardner, 1667, and Margaret his wife, 1683,
marble tablet with Ionic pilasters, cleft pediment and shield of arms. There is
a floor-slab in the Chancel to William Sharpe, 1692. C18 painted texts are
partly revealed above the tower arch and high on the nave walls.

Listing NGR: TL6513641664

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17544870

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Gloucestershire 1: The Cotswolds: Cotswolds Pt. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  ENGLAND GUIDE TO POST WAR LISTED: A Guide to Post-war Listed Buildings
• 
  Old House Care and Repair
• 
  Cambridgeshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  London 6: Westminster (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England): Westminster v. 6
• 
  A Buying and Owning a Listed Building: A Brief Guide