Welcome to the Church of St. Andrew
History of the Church of St Andrew Norwich
The church of St Andrew, Norwich, is the second largest medieval parish church in the city. It is a fine example of a hall church, in late perpendicular gothic style and with a timber roof of tie beam construction. The tower is the oldest part and dates from 1478 with the rest of the building erected by 1506, replacing an existing structure.
Not long after the building work had finished, the Reformation occurred, sending the whole of Europe into religious turmoil. St Andrew’s became a preaching house for the new ‘Protestant’ religion. The church later had links to John Robinson, a freelance clergyman who became pastor to the Pilgrim Fathers before their emigration to the New World.
St Andrew’s was a wealthy parish and the church was well situated on the main route from the market to the Cathedral with Princes Street being the traditional route to Tombland and the cathedral. Only in the Twentieth century was this replaced by a new road which cut through to St Michael at Plea and Bank Plain.
Chronology
1386 Bequests made to a church on this site
1478 West tower under construction
c.1496 Work on West tower completed
1506 Work completed on the nave and chancel, replacing the previous structure
1557 Elizabeth Cooper burned as a heretic
1607 Churchwardens excommunicated for installing special seating for local dignitaries
1637 Font cover produced
1867 Major restoration work undertaken including new pews, pulpit and stone screen
1878 Font replaced
1908 Organ case installed
Memorials
The church has one of the finest collections of memorials in the City of Norwich. Here are represented Mayors and Aldermen, a sea captain and a variety of business leaders.
In the South East corner of St Andrew is the Suckling chapel . The Sucklings were a major Norfolk family who were closely related to (and at one time lodged) Horatio Nelson.
To learn about the main characters linked with the church and the roles they played in history click here