Rugby, St Andrew's Parish Church 1922

Photo ref: 72135

More about this scene

This separation of St Andrew's Church from the Abbey of Leicester was to save its assets from seizure at the dissolution of the monasteries during the reign of Henry VIII — a fate suffered by both the church at Clifton and its remaining chapel at Brownsover. Henry de Rokeby pulled down the old Norman chancel and rebuilt it in 13th-century style, adding an unusual tower (72131, opposite): early commentators believed that it was intended as a place of defence, and that its construction was an attempt to circumvent the law forbidding the unlicensed building of fortifications. Until 1652 the church was much neglected, but after complaints about its dangerous state it underwent extensive alteration and enlargement. However, it still failed to keep up with the rapid rise in the town's population throughout the 19th century, and the decision was made to rebuild the church entirely. The builders Parnell & Son and the architect William Butterfield were commissioned, and in 1877 the foundation stone was laid by Dr Temple, Bishop of Exeter and former headmaster of Rugby School. Costing over £20,000, the work was completed in 1880. The font seen at the front of photograph 72137, opposite, dates from 1743. The medieval font, in which Lawrence Sheriff had been baptised, was relegated to the courtyard of the Eagle Hotel. It served as a trough for the pump until it was rescued by the Rugby historian Matthew Bloxham. It was left in the Percival Guildhouse garden behind St Matthew's Church until it was finally returned to St Andrew's in the 1950s.