Droylsden: St Andrew
Overview
Grid reference: SJ 891 980
Droylsden is a north-eastern suburb of Manchester straddling Manchester Road (the A662). St Andrew’s is set back on the south side of Edge Lane which crosses this road. The foundation stone for the church is dated 21st November 1914, and it would appear that the entire building is of this date. Externally, the style of the building is clearly Gothic, shown in the window tracery and pointed arches of the transeptal and main east and west windows. There is a continuous tiled pitched roof for both nave and chancel and low aisles to either side of the nave.
Visiting and facilities
Building is closed for worship
Demolished
Building
Ground Plan Description and Dimensions
Ground plan:
Aisled nave, west apsidal baptistery, vestry rooms, transepts, chancel and organ chamber, north porch.
Dimensions:
Nave 24m (75ft) x 13m (40ft). Chancel 10m (31ft)x 11m (34ft)
Description of Archaeology and History
The foundation stone for the church is dated 21st November 1914, and it would appear that the entire building is of this date. The apsidal baptistery at the west end was not included on the original plans but was built at the same time, although plans for a lady chapel to the south were not realised – as the blocked archways reveal.
Exterior Description
Externally, the style of the building is clearly Gothic, shown in the window tracery and pointed arches of the transeptal and main east and west windows. There is a continuous tiled pitched roof for both nave and chancel and low aisles to either side of the nave.
The west gable is the most interesting; there are a jumble of features none of which give a definitive focal point. Two tall single lights, effectively set into wide buttresses, flank the small apsidal baptistery.
Above this is a 3-light window with thick terracotta mullions and odd cusped tracery with quatrefoils, semi-circles and mouchettes in the heads, this free Gothic style is mimicked in the two other windows of the elevation and also throughout the church. Rising from the south-west corner is a tall bell tower of two stages surmounted by a cross.
There are symmetrical porches projecting from the western bays, with gabled fronts and four-centred arched heads. The clearstorey also has three windows with three lancets each set within segmental arches. The aisle and vestry room windows are rectangular and of three lights with thick mullions, except for two single light windows at either end.
The organ chamber and transepts each have separate projecting gabled roofs and windows set within pointed arches of two and three lights respectively. The north transept extends slightly further than the aisle and organ chamber and has a doorway to the east side of it, both the door and window of the transepts are flanked by brick pilasters.
At the eastern end of the north aisle there are vestry rooms and a passageway which forms the external wall to connect with the transept, (the organ room is effectively behind this passage but rises above it). The east gable is very simple and contains a window with six cusped lights and rather robust tracery in the head with quatrefoils and semi-circles, as seen on the opposing gable.
In the south chancel wall there are three small 2-light windows in the chancel wall as opposed to one in the north, and there is evidence of blocked arches where the original plans for a lady chapel were not realised. The south elevation is less exposed than the north because of the vegetation marking the boundary of the garden, including a tree which has grown close to the wall to the east of the south transept.
Building Fabric and Features
Stained Glass
North aisle to the east of the porch. A small window showing a sower.
Behold a sower went forth to sow
In memoriam Thomas Kenyon, first rector’s warden of this church died Dec 27th 1916 aged 56 years.
Interior
Interior Description
Inside, the building is quite different in character, architecturally unadorned and surprisingly spacious. Despite the Gothic detail of the windows the interior is undeniably Romanesque, seen most clearly in the high nave, narrow aisles and round arches of the arcading. The nave arcades are of three bays of round arches with a single chamfer, carried on square piers. These continue as pilasters, rising to create segmental arches enclosing the clearstorey windows.
The aisles are relatively narrow in comparison to the nave and have transverse round arches that die into the columns of the arcading; there are small rectangular windows of either single or triple lights; to the north west of the north aisle there is a single pane of stained glass.
Both the aisles and the nave are heavily pewed, much of which is visibly distorted, revealing the subsidence of the building. The floors are also affected and the screed in the west end is cracked and curling; similarly in the chancel area the concrete is breaking up severely. The problem is demonstrated most acutely in the west apsidal baptistery which is currently shored up from the outside and closed. The windows have been filled in and the cracks in the brickwork are obvious.
The south transept has a blocked archway on the east wall and this is also true of the south chancel wall, both indicative of the intended south chapel. The south chancel wall also has a plain sedilia. To the north side of the chancel is the organ, housed in a separate room with display pipes showing through pointed arches into the chancel and the transept.
A squat brick wall topped with white stone coping divides the chancel from the nave and the pulpit is built into this structure. The roof in the nave and chancel is false hammerbeam; just below the roof the chancel and transept walls show evidence of rising salts.
Fixtures and fittings
Altar
1914
Wooden table with inlaid frontal incorporated; enclosed at the sides.
Reredos
1914
A hanging curtain to match the altar front
Pulpit
1914
Built into the dividing wall of the chancel, dark oak with rectangular panelling and a carved cornice.
Lectern
1914
Tall, oak and has tracery in the front panels and an illegible brass dedication plaque.
Font (object)
Unknown
Small and unpretentious. Square with a wooden circular top. Presented by B Carrington Sellars of Fairfield August 1899.
Organ (object)
1917
Conacher Huddersfield. A gift of T E Marchingtoon Esq.
Churchyard
Grid reference: SJ 891 980
Burial and War Grave Information
It is unknown whether the building is consecrated.
It is unknown whether the churchyard has been used for burial.
It is unknown whether the churchyard is used for burial.
It is unknown whether the churchyard has war graves.
National Heritage record for England designations
There are no records of National Heritage assets within the curtilage of this site.
Environment
Ancient, Veteran & Notable Trees
Caring for God's Acre is a conservation charity working to support groups and individuals to investigate, care for, and enjoy the wildlife and heritage treasures found within churchyards and other burial grounds. Look on their website for information and advice and please contact their staff directly. They can help you manage this churchyard for people and wildlife.
To learn more about all the species recorded against this church, go to the Burial Ground Portal within the NBN Atlas. You can check the spread of records through the years, discovering what has been recorded and when, plus what discoveries might remain to be uncovered.
There are no records of Ancient, Veteran or Notable Trees within the curtilage of this site.
Renewables
| Renewable | Installed |
|---|---|
| Solar PV Panels | No |
| Solar Thermal Panels | No |
| Biomass | No |
| Wind Turbine | No |
| Air Source Heat Pump | No |
| Ground Source Heat Pump | No |
| Ev Charging | No |
Species summary
There are no records of species within the curtilage of this site.
Caring for God's Acre is a conservation charity working to support groups and individuals to investigate, care for, and enjoy the wildlife and heritage treasures found within churchyards and other burial grounds. Look on their website for information and advice and please contact their staff directly. They can help you manage this churchyard for people and wildlife.
To learn more about all the species recorded against this church, go to the Burial Ground Portal within the NBN Atlas. You can check the spread of records through the years, discovering what has been recorded and when, plus what discoveries might remain to be uncovered.
'Seek advice' Species
More information on species and action to be taken upon discovery.
Caring for God's Acre is a conservation charity working to support groups and individuals to investigate, care for, and enjoy the wildlife and heritage treasures found within churchyards and other burial grounds. Look on their website for information and advice and please contact their staff directly. They can help you manage this churchyard for people and wildlife.
To learn more about all the species recorded against this church, go to the Burial Ground Portal within the NBN Atlas. You can check the spread of records through the years, discovering what has been recorded and when, plus what discoveries might remain to be uncovered.
Further information
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