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Inside St Andrew's |
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Inside St. Andrews Church
Filled with Beauty and Glory from floor to roof St Andrews has memorial and stained glass to inspire everyone
WITHERING MEMORIAL
Thomas Withering, Postmaster General to Charles I lived at the Manor of
Nelmes and on September 28th 1651 he died while travelling from there
to church. The lower part of the memorial shows two skeletons, the
smaller is that of a son who died at the age of five. Although the
manor house was destroyed in the 1960's our first Postmaster is still
remembered with a road running through the former grounds of Nelmes
called the Witherings.
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RAME MEMORIAL
An alabaster
memorial to Francis Rame, his wife, eleven sons and one daughter.
Francis Rame was steward to Sir Anthony Cooke of Gidea Hall, tutor to
Edward VI.
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SPENCER
MEMORIAL BY FLAXMAN
High in the
north wall of the sanctuary is the Spencer memorial by the famous
sculptor Flaxman. The Spencer family lived in Hornchurch Hall which
once stood opposite the church and was one of the manors belonging to
it.
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EARLY MEMORIALS
Under the fitted
carpet in the chancel are a number of memorial floor slabs, brasses
and indents. The earliest of these being that of Boniface de Hart who
was Prior from 1323-25. Complete brasses of Thomas Drywoode, his wife
and children 1591; Elizabeth and Alice Drywoode 1602; and Thomas Hone,
his wife, six sons and six daughters 1604 also survive.
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PULPIT
A Victorian
stone pulpit was replaced in 1962 by an oak one with a sounding board.
This was designed by Gwynneth Holt and she is responsible for the
carving of St Andrew, the Symbols on the supports and handrail the
entwined fish on the sounding board. This was given in memory of
Honora Adelini Willis who died July 31st 1947.
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PRUJFAN
MEMORIAL
Tucked in the
east corner of the south wall is a very, impressive memorial to Sir
Francis Prujean, this was at one time painted and traces of colour can
still be seen. In fact most of the memorials would have been painted
originally. Sir Francis was President of the College of Physicians.
When in Hornchurch he lived at Suttons Gate but in 1666 he died at his
London home the site of which until pre-war was known as Prujean
Square.
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CEILING
The roofs date
from the 15th century. At some time the woodwork had been covered with
a plaster ceiling but this was removed in 1957 revealing a painted
design. This took the form of a chequer board of large rectangles in
black and red with gold quatrefoils each containing an eight-pointed
star. It also revealed a number of bosses in the shape of head which
have since been repainted as they would have been originally. The same
restoration revealed ancient timbers in the roof of the south aisle.
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William Ayloffe
On your right is
the table tomb of William Ayloffe who lived at Bretons and died !A
151T. The arms displayed on the sides of the tomb show Ayloffe
impaling Shaa; Ayloffe; Shaa impaling d'Arey of St Osyth and Bruges of
Gloucester impaling Ayloffe.
William’s son
was responsible for making returns to the government of the vestments
and furniture of Essex churches at the time of the Reformation. A
descendent of his paid a high price for his loyality to the Stewart
cause, when as High Sheriff of Essex he led a troop of horse from
Bretons to Colchester the very day before the Parliamentary troops
began the seige. When the seige ended he was first ordered to be shot,
but instead sent to the Barbados to work on a plantation. When Charles
II was restored to the throne he returned to England and was made a
Knight of the Shire.
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Richard
Blackstone
The memorial to
Richard Blackstone is interesting as
it shows two figures kneeling in prayer, presumably Richard
Blackstone and his wife. The achievement of arms is
shown impaling those of his wife but the space left for
her memorial was never filled in.
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First
Sportsman's Battalion
A brass plate
commemorates members of the First
Sportsman's Battalion
which suffered dreadful casualties during
the First World War.
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THE WEST WINDOW
In the ringers' chamber is the west window given in memory of Betsy
Mashiter, who died in 1860. The central light shows Henry II presenting to
a monk of the Abbey of Montjoux the Charter granting land in Havering. On
the left are the arms of New Zealand commemorating that Grey Towers was
their first base camp in England during the 1914-18 war. Later it became
their hospital, and in 1916 four young Maori soldiers were buried in the
churchyard, and on Armistice Day poppies are still placed on their graves.
Grey Towers Avenue was formerly the drive to this house and until recently
the Lodges stood on either side of the south end. On the right are the
arms of the Guild of Fraternity of Trinity House. At one time the church
spire acted as a navigational landmark for Thames pilots and Trinity House
contributed to the cost of its upkeep. |
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EAST WINDOW
The east window replaces one destroyed by enemy action in the second
world war and is dedicated to the memory of Thomas Mashiter. It shows the
arms of the Dioceses of Rochester, London, Chelmsford and St Albans and
those of the county of Essex and the Urban District of Hornchurch. Reading
from left to right this window shows: Edward the Confessor, in front of
Westminster Abbey, holding in his left hand.a ring, referring to the
legend of Have-a-ring which is detailed at the end of this booklet. Next
St Andrew, in the centre Christ standing on the shores of a lake, next St
Peter and on the extreen right William of Wykeham with New College Oxford
in the background. The theme is "Follow me and I will make you
fishers of men". The window. was designed by Gerald Smith and made by
the Nicholson Stained Glass Studio on 1954. |
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NORTH WINDOWS
The stained glass in the north aisle is late 19th and early 20th
century. The first of these windows has three lights depicting Jesus in
the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus with Pilate and Jesus on the road to
Calvary. The second on the north side of the church is a memorial to Sarah
Williams who lived at Great Langtons, now part of the Council Offices, and
shows St Sarah, The Virgin Mary and St Elizabeth and it was designed and
made by Haydon Bacon of London. |
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The NEW NORTH WINDOW 1991
The new window on the North side of the Church was installed in 1991 to
commemorate the Six Hundredth Anniversary of the connection with New
College Oxford. On the left is shown William of Wykeham in 1391 receiving
a document form Richard 11 allowing him to purchase the lands of the Monks
of Montjeux in Havering to endow his new College of St. Mary in Oxford. In
it the Church is described as the Parish Church of Havering commonly
called the Horned Church. Beneath the figures are the Towers of New
College and of the Parish Church On the right is shown the Parish of 1991
with figures depicting worship outreach and pastoral care covering all
ages and the cooperation of men and women and clergy and laity. This
activity is shown in the local setting of recent history symbolised by a
Spitfire representing the important role of Hornchurch R.A.F. Station in
the Battle of Britain and local industry represented by a Ford Fiesta and
an Amstrad Computer Beneath the figures are the daughter Churches of St
George and St Matthew.
Throughout the window are shadowy figures representing parishioners
through the ages including ourselves. Linking the two halves of the window
is the figure of the crucified Christ arms stretched wide in compassion
over the Parish, an eternal presence. |
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222 High Street |
Hornchurch |
RM12 6QP |
Essex, England |
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