Listed Building record MDR2632 - St Andrew's Church, Radbourne

The church of Radbourn, dedicated to St. Andrew dates mainly from circa 1300, but the oldest details are the double sedilia in the chancel, circa 1150-1175. The tower is fifteenth century. (1) In normal use. (2) Listed, grade I. Parish church of the 13th, early 14th, 15th and 17th centuries. A porch was added in 1792 and the church was repaired in 1844. It is built of ashlar and coursed squared sandstone with stone dressings and plinth, and has shallow pitched plain tile roofs hidden by low projecting parapets with ridgeback copings. There is a two stage tower to the north west corner of the nave, a north nave aisle, lower chancel and south porch. (3) A bell in St Andrew's is of historical significance, dating from circa 1550. It was made by H I Oldfield of Nottingham. (5) What is unusual about St Andrew's and not typical of the parish church is that the tower, erected in the 15th century, has been built on to the north aisle instead of being symmetrically sited at the west end. Many churches outside of Derbyshire share this peculiartity but it can usually be seen as an attempt to avoid blocking a west window and in other cases it may be that site or structural difficulties prevent the more natural sitting of the tower. The church is entered through a stone porch dated to 1792, though it is not clear why an earlier Norman entrance nearby was blocked up and not used. The church is small, compact and with three arches on octagonal piers dividing the nave from the north side. Exceptionally, a raised faimily pew stands immediately inside the entrance and against the west wall with carved woodwork believed to have come from Dale Abbey when Francis Pole on the dissolution purchased the whole interior fittings. (6)