1841Tithe Map

St Andrew's church is at Plot No. 1 (shaded in red). It was dedicated to St Andrew in 1316 after it was rebuilt entirely from its foundations. These foundations can be dated to A.D.1100 from church MS at Wells but they may well date from at least A.D. 880, when Burnham was a Royal Manor of King Alfred, who in his will, bequeathed it between his eldest son Edward and nephew Athelme. It has been considered unlikely for such a King as Alfred; perhaps the most Christian monarch England had so far enjoyed, to have not provided a building for his subjects where they could practice their religious beliefs. Probably after the manner of the first Glastonbury church made of wattle & daub?

St Andrew's 1826

This is the earliest known illustration of St Andrew's, which acknowledgements to the Local Studies Library at Taunton who hold the original. Note the wooden fence at the centre left of the tower, situated a short distance from the church..  

St Andrew's 1843

Much the same as that of 1826 except the fence is not depicted. A magnified view which is not able to be displayed here, shows the stable door type entrance of the south porch and the wooden railings between the porch and south transept that enclose the whipping stock, long since gone.

St Andrew's c.1900

View from the east -note the turn-style type gates to the left of the main double gates. These and the railings were taken for scrap munitions during WW2. Note also that there are no bushes or foliage except the one bush in front the east window.

St Andrew's 1909-1928

View from the junction of Victoria Street, Manor Road and Berrow Road. Note the iron turn-style type gate to the left of the double iron gates. These may be seen in better detail in a later photo. Further to the left can be seen some steps, these were provided to enable the vicar to mount his horse and are attached to the wall of the church stable (out of sight in this photo)

St Andrews 1909

View of the south side from the vicarage across the churchyard 

St Andrew's 1998

View from the junction of Victoria Street, Manor Road and Berrow Road. Note the Vicar's Mounting Steps and the Church Stable to the left of the picture.

Burnham from the High Lighthouse c.1843

Note the windows in the north wall of the church and the cottages just in front, which may have been those of fishermen. 

St Andrew's 1928

View from Victoria Street 

St Andrew's Churchyard

View published in a local newspaper in the 1950s. 

The Leaning Tower in the 1950s

This is perhaps one of the more interesting phenomenon of the church which many visitors to Burnham have come to see. It was Richard Locke; notable surveyor of his time, who may have been the first to record the fact in 1784, and estimated that - a line let down from its top, appears to overstand towards the north by 3 feet - which can be computed to be about 1.5 degrees. Whether this has increased over the years has never been assessed but opinion has it that there has been no movement since the initial settling after the tower was finished.

The Clergy's Entrance

Not now in use but was originally by the vicar and his retinue, coming from the vicarage.

Whipping Stock Area

This area is between the porch and the west wall of St Nicholas Chapel. The whipping stocks were situated here and wooden railings kept back onlookers. The rain water drain pipe is one of seven situated around the church walls, each one has a collector at its head where water from the head of a gargoyle discharges. They were all fitted in memory of particular persons and date from Victorian times.

East end of church

This view of the eastern end of the church shows the chancel walls - the tower - the vestry roof and the eastern apex of the nave. Note that this nave apex has a slit window in it. This is thought to have been designed when the church was rebuilt in the early 14th century, so that the sun's rays would shine through to allow more light in to the dark interior of the nave and draw the eye of the congregation to the rood loft which then spanned the east end of the nave.

Foot Path

This footpath begins at the north-east corner of the churchyard wall and continues to Brent Knoll and Edithmead. At one time it also led to Wick, Perry and Mark.

The Nave 1906

This view shows the 18th century candelabra hanging from the ceiling and the recess towards the upper left through which can be seen the remains of steps that led to a one time rood loft. One can see at the left centre, what is probably one of the first radiators to be manufactured, the fire for which was attached to it with the chimney going through the roof above the porch.

The Nave

Viewed from the pulpit one can see the candelabra referred to previously and the copious gallery which is another feature peculiar to St Andrew's, added in 1838. The north walls had to be demolished but their foundations are still intact and can be seen through viewing holes let into the wooden flooring.

Statuary

These are fragments from an Altar Piece sculpted by Grinling Gibbons and his assistant Arnold Quellin the younger, an Antwerp artist. It was intended for the Chapel at the Palace at Whitehall, in the City of Westminster during the reign of Charles II. However, the plans for the chapel were laid aside but the Altar piece had been finished and was deposited in an out-building adjacent to the King's Palace at Hampton Court, where it lay until it attracted the notice of Sir Christopher Wren, Master of Her Majesty's Board of Works during the reign of Queen Anne. Wren at the time who was engaged in the repairing and ornamenting of Westminster Abbey, suggested that the altar piece "might be placed with advantage" in the choir of the Abbey. The Queen agreed and it was accordingly removed and reconstructed in the Abbey's choir.  It remained there until the time when preparations were being made for the Coronation of King George IV where it replaced another altar, being a style more appropriate to the Abbey's Gothic structure. Walker King Bishop of Rochester, who was also Vicar of St Andrew's at Burnham obtained fragments of the altar piece during its dismantling and had them transported to Burnham where they were erected in the manner shown in the illustration. The structure occupied almost the whole of the east wall, blocking out the light from the east window but during a later restoration period, some were removed to other parts of the church leaving just the Cherub plates and the angels at either side of the altar. 

Street & Pyke Advert

This the firm of Messrs Street & Pyke of Bridgwater for whom Mr Bayley worked at one time and who made the church candelabra.

The Candelabra

This was provided in 1771 when the ceiling was fitted to the church roof. At first there was rope attached to it passing through an eyelet in the ceiling and anchored to a cleat in the south wall of the church, with which to raise and lower the apparatus for candle replacement and cleaning. My ancestor Arthur Cox was paid £2. 2s per year to perform this task.

Organ

The present organ was installed by W.G. Vowles of Bristol in 1885, replacing an harmonium although this was not its original site. Musical accompaniment was first provided by Ferdinand Cox; a Mason by trade with a viol, the choir being housed in a gallery at the base of the tower. The gallery projected into the body of the nave by some seven feet and access was from the back up a short flight of steps.

The Three Cherubs

These are part of the fragments of the Grinling Gibbons Statuary and were mounted at its top. They now occupied the centre window sill of the north wall beneath the gallery and were placed there as a memorial to the Wynn family who were connected with the church for many years from the time when William Wynn was the sexton and his grandson Albert Edward Cox was his assistant.. 

The Ten Cherubs

This also is part of the statuary's fragments on which the Three Cherubs were mounted. The writing in the center is Hebrew for Jehovah. 

The Vicarage 1995

This view of the vicarage was taken at the time when it placed on the market for sale at £230,000. Its origin is not entirely able to be ascertained but it is know there was a vicarage when Will Taylour was the incumbent in 1623. Whether this was the same place cannot be assessed but the present home of the vicar is in Rectory Road at Burnham. Before that in 1242 one Mathew the Chaplain at Burnham, was recorded in the Hundred of Bempston Pleas, Somerset as having his house burgled by unknown malefactors, who killed his brother Thomas and bound up Walter the Clerk. 

St Nicholas Chapel

This was originally one of two transepts added at the same time as when the church was rebuilt. The north transept was sacrificed when the gallery was installed and the vestry built. The south transept was dedicated to St Nicholas where the blessed sacrament is reserved for taking to the sick. On its west wall is hung the original Altar Stone used in the church before its 14th century rebuilding in the. The chapel was restored in 1921 and the screen provided. There were also at one time figures or effigies in the two niches in the south wall but have become lost and are thought to be buried somewhere in the churchyard.

Baptistery

This now occupies the base of the tower where the two angels from the Grinling Gibbons Statuary on their pedestals are kept there. The 19th font was presented to the church by Dr. Board and was first sited at the south entrance. The wood screen around the entrance from the church was installed in memory of Churchwarden Daniel Cox.

The Altar

The present Altar is of oak which replaced the communion table that is now in the body of the nave. Four of the five Cherub plates from the Grinling Gibbons Statuary were left in the position where they are now behind the altar, the fifth one is thought to have become damaged the present one (The centre one) being a replica.

Altar Stone

This must be the the oldest and most valuable artefact in the whole church. It is the original altar stone and belonged to St Andrew's before dedication. It was used up to the time of the dissolution of the monasteries but its preservation was due to the cunning of the incumbent at the time. He had the Communion Table fashioned in such a way, that the stone was placed between the table's legs and then hidden from view by the Altar Cloth. It stayed in this situation for many years until the incumbency of a certain clerk who discovered the truth and had the stone cast into the churchyard, where it lay until being recovered by the Harding family, masons of Burnham. They dressed it and used it as their family grave headstone. This situation prevailed for several years until it was re-discovered and its importance realised. It was taken from the churchyard, cleaned up and fixed in the position it now occupies in St Nicholas Chapel. Close examination of the stone revealed three Celtic crosses, forming three corners of a square but the fourth is not visible. The side of the Altar Stone nearest the wall was inscribed with the Harding family names and dates of deaths.

Communion Table

This table would seem to be the original table that was modified to hide the Altar Stone. The account of this event matches what can be seen, inasmuch as a lower bar being removed to make way for the stone.

The Chancel

Restored in 1878 one can see to the left the outline of the organ and on the wall behind the altar are the Cherub plates.

The Nave 1904

Looking towards the altar along the nave. Note the name plates at the aisle end of each pew and the tall candle stick holders in their centres, also the gallery along the north wall. At each side of the chancel entrance are two large boards on which are written the Ten Commandments, dating from 1775 when Mr Thomas Bryant was engaged for the task. He also painted the church walls and drew the figures of Moses and Aaron somewhere on one of the walls, but these are now gone. He was paid £7. 7s. for this service.

The South Entrance

The porch was not included in the 14th century rebuilding and the present outer door was originally the inner one. This became the outer when greater security was required, replacing a stable-type outer door which can just be seen on the illustration of 1843. Over the top of the porch is a lantern, now of modern design and electrically powered which replaced an earlier oil lamp. Over that at the apex of the porch roof are the remains of the James McNamarah sundial. 

The McNamarah Sundial

A closer view of the Sundial made and fitted by one James McNamarah in 1775 at a cost of £2. 16s. 6d.

The Inner Entrance Door

This door was fitted in memory of Prebendary Hugh Parnell, over the top of which is the statuette carved by Mr Ruscombe-Emery. The small cut-out showing the scratch sun-dial can just be seen to the left of the centre of the door arch.

The Scratch Sun-Dial

This is situated at the left side of the inner entrance door of the south porch. although it has the looks of a scratch dial, opinion has been expressed that it may not be the same as other Somerset scratch dials. These were used to inform the clergy when it was time for Mass and not the time of day, in any event it could only have been used when the sun shone it so the one thing it does tell us is that, the porch may not have been included when the church was rebuilt in 1316.

The Tower Repairs 1996

Viewed from the west entrance gateway, the entrance to the winter gardens can be just seen on the left.

The Turret Light

The weather vane is relatively new and immediately below can be just seen the red navigation light. This is the final position of a light which originated in the window of a nearby fisherman's cottage. In the 18th-19th century a fisherman's wife placed a candle in her window to guide her husband safely home. A later incumbent paid the woman £5 for the idea and installed a light in the church tower but local authority disapproved. Later the idea was sold to the Trinity House Pilotage and and the light reinstalled to the position where it still is to this day. Together with lights from the Wooden Lighthouse and the whitewashing of the seaward sides of the Towers of Burnham & Berrow Churches, a better safety factor was attained for shipping using the ports of Highbridge, Combwich and Bridgwater.