St Andrew's Church, Backwell

The Anglican parish Church of St. Andrew in Backwell, Somerset, England, dates from the 12th century. It was altered and enlarged in the 13th, 15th, 16th and 17th centuries. It has been designated as a Grade I listed building.[1]

Church of St Andrew, Backwell
Church of St Andrew, Backwell
DenominationChurch of England
Website
Administration
DeaneryPortishead
ArchdeaconryBath
DioceseBath and Wells
ProvinceCanterbury
Clergy
RectorVacancy

The four stage tower at the west end of the church is over 100 feet (30 m) tall and dates from the 15th century. It contains a ring of eight bells, two of which are medieval.[2]

The font dates from the 12th century. It consists of a circular bowl with cable moulding, and a circular stem with foliate moulding on the base. It was restored in 1907. The Rood Screen is from the early 16th century.[1]

The parish is part of the benefice of Backwell with Chelvey and Brockley within the deanery of Portishead.[3]

A new building attached to the church and containing social and office space was added in 1984.[4]

There are plans to install solar panels on the roof of the church.[5]

Churchyard

The churchyard includes a 15th-century cross.[6] There is also a crucifix which is a memorial to a local airman Pat Garnett. It was made by Arthur George Walker and was sited below Backwell Hill House before becoming rusted and overgrown. It was restored and moved to the churchyard by Laurence Tindall in 1997.[7] The churchyard also contains war graves of a York and Lancaster Regiment officer and an airman of World War II.[8]

There is very little space remaining in the churchyard for future burials.

The Churchyard has very limited land space remaining for future burials; the field adjacent to the church is earmarked for a potential housing development and thus cannot be purchased. As a result, the church has restricted future burials to Backwell residents only,[9] and is requesting permission to reuse existing graves that have no memorials and are more than 80 years old.[10]

See also

References
  1. Historic England. "St. Andrew's Church (1129810)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 7 March 2009.
  2. "History". St Andrew's Church, Backwell. Archived from the original on 27 April 2011. Retrieved 5 April 2009.
  3. "St Andrew's Church, Backwell". Church of England. Retrieved 11 September 2011.
  4. Dunning, Robert (2007). Somerset Churches and Chapels: Building Repair and Restoration. Halsgrove. p. 17. ISBN 978-1841145921.
  5. Newnham, Gareth (21 November 2018). "Let there be light: Backwell church going green with Solar panels". North Somerset Times. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
  6. Historic England. "Churchyard Cross, in the Churchyard and to the south of G.V. St. Andrew's Church (1320634)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 11 September 2011.
  7. "St Andrews Backwell The Garnett Memorial". Laurence Tindall. Retrieved 11 September 2011.
  8. CWGC Cemetery Report, details from casualty record.
  9. Angear, Vicky (11 February 2016). "Limited burial spaces warning". North Somerset Times. Retrieved 21 January 2018.
  10. Angear, Vicky (8 September 2016). "Church applies to re-use graves". Retrieved 21 January 2018.

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