York Historic Environment Record

Formerly known as: Church of St Andrew ST ANDREWGATE. Parish church, now non-denominational church. C15 nave with early C19 extension on site of late C14 former chancel: C20 renovation.

MATERIALS: reused Roman gritstone and magnesian limestone, with brick blocking; rebuilt and patched with various brick mostly in stretcher or random bond; pantile roof with inserted half-hipped dormers on both sides of chancel/ extension. PLAN: 4-bay nave and chancel; west bell turret.

EXTERIOR: former chancel on chamfered plinth. East end has blocked doorway to south and two 12-pane windows with painted stone sill. On north side, original window opening with splayed reveals has inserted 16-pane sash. South side has C20 door and 2 windows. Nave has moulded plinth. On north side, two square-headed windows beneath decayed hoodmoulds, of 2 cinquefoiled lights with mouchette tracery in the head, one part original, one completely renewed: towards west end, blocked doorway in chamfered 2-centred arch, blocked with brick. Openings on south much altered; C20 windows and door beneath timber lintel. West end has C20 cross window in rebuilt gable, above blocked former window.

INTERIOR: not inspected. RCHM records original tie beams to roof and remnants of timber-framed bell turret at west end.

HISTORICAL NOTE: Church of St Andrew was first mentioned in 1194. It was redundant by 1586, when the parish was united with St Saviour's, and used for a variety of secular purposes until late C20.

(City of York: RCHME: The Central Area: HMSO: 1981-: 10). Listing NGR: SE6056752034

Derived from English Heritage LB download dated: 22/08/2005

St. Andrew's Hall, formerly the parish church of St. Andrew, stands on the S.E. side of St. Andrewgate. It consists of a cottage built in the ruins of the former Chancel, and a Nave. The walls are generally of magnesian limestone, with some gritstone which is probably reused Roman material. Post mediaeval work is in brick. The roofs are covered with pantiles.

At the earliest mention of the church in 1194 it was appropriated to the Chapter of York Minster. The chancel was built in 1390–2 by Hugh Grantham, mason (SS, xxxv, 129), and the nave is 15th-century. The church became redundant in the 16th century and the parish was united with St. Saviour's in 1586. By the early 18th century it had become, according to Drake, 'a stable at one end and a brothel at the other'. It was occupied by St. Peter's School from c. 1730 to 1823. By the early 19th century the chancel was ruinous, but before 1850 it was largely rebuilt to form a cottage; this is no longer inhabited as such, but has become an annexe to the nave of the church which is now (1977) used as a meeting house by the Christian Brethren. Though of simple plan, the church is notable as the only one of the city churches declared redundant in the 16th century of which the fabric still stands. An unusual feature is a timber structure at the W. end of the nave roof that formed the lower part of a bell-turret. Because of the early redundancy no fittings survive.

Architectural Description. The Chancel has original work of the late 14th century in the N. wall, which is mostly of lime-stone in courses up to 18 in. deep, but incorporates some brickwork, especially near the top, indicating part rebuilding in the 18th century. There is a chamfered plinth and one original window near the W. end, with splayed reveals, in poor condition and containing a 19th-century hung sash. The E. wall, of stone and brick, has remains of a chamfered plinth but is otherwise rebuilt; it has a blocked doorway and 19th-century windows. The S. wall, of brick, is wholly of the 19th century, with a doorway and two simple windows. The interior is divided up to form a cottage with simple late Georgian fittings.

The Nave has a moulded plinth around the exterior except where parts have been broken away on the S. wall. In the E. wall is the blocked chancel arch, 13½ ft. wide and two-centred, of two chamfered orders; the outer order continues down to the floor, but the inner springs from moulded corbels. The wall to each side of the arch is, externally, of large squared masonry, and of rubble in the gable. The N. wall contains a large amount of reused gritstone, mostly in the lower half; the magnesian limestone above is generally finely cut with narrow joints. The two original windows have square heads, moulded labels and splayed reveals; only the E. window retains tracery, comprising four trefoiled panels above two cinque-foiled lights, but the W. window has an original, though damaged, label head-stop. Further to the W. an original doorway, now blocked with brick, has a plain-chamfered two-centred arch. The S. wall, mostly of reused gritstone, has been much altered. The positions of the two original square-headed windows can be identified, though both were later converted to doorways and then partly or wholly blocked with brickwork. The existing later windows have modern frames. Near the E. end is an early 18th-century doorway. The W. wall is original up to about 3 ft. below the springing of the gable but otherwise of modern brick; in the centre the brick extends further down, infilling a window opening.

The Roof of the nave was four bays long but all that survives of the original are tie-beams with small chamfers. In the W. bay is framing that formed the lower part of a bell-turret, consisting of corner-posts, rails and curved braces. Originally it stood on two tie-beams, but one of these, against the W. wall, has been removed and the other has lost wall-posts and braces which strengthened it below.

An enclosed yard S.E. of the church is part of the former Churchyard; the churchyard to N.W. and S.W. was built over with small houses, the last of which were demolished in the mid 20th century, and the land is now derelict.

Monument 3; City of York: RCHME: The Central Area: HMSO: 1981-: 10

NMR Information

Name: St Andrews Evangelical Church
Alternate Name (Alternative): St Andrews Hall

Full description
(SE 60575203) St. Andrew's Hall (NAT)

1. ST ANDREWGATE 5343

St Andrew's Hall (formerly listed as Church of St Andrew)

SE 6052 SE 14/30 14.6.54

II*

2. Originally the Church of St Andrew. Altered and long unused as a church. Late C14 aisleless nave, chancel and base of a bell urret. The south side altered with modern windows and doorways;
modern pantile roof. (RCHM Vol V, Monument 3).

Ordnance Survey Map (Scale / Date). OS 1:2500 1962.
2 List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest. p285 City of York, June 1983.

613515 Architectural Survey Investigation by RCHME/EH Architectural Survey

BF060206 ST ANDREW'S HALL, YORK File of material relating to a site or building. This material has not yet been fully catalogued.

RCHME, 1981, City of York Volume V: The Central Area (Monograph). SYO65.

NMR, 2019, NMR data (Digital archive). SYO2214.