St Andrew's Church, South Huish

St Andrew’s Church stands as a roofless ruin in the quiet hamlet of South Huish, on the edge of the South Hams in Devon. Built mainly in the 13th century, it grew over the centuries with a west tower added in the early 15th, a south aisle and porch between 1520 and 1540, and a painted oak rood screen dividing nave from chancel. By 1553 it had four bells, later increased to six by the early 19th century. In 1866 the congregation moved to a new church half a mile away in Galmpton, leaving St Andrew’s to decay. The church is constructed from local slate stone and its walls remain largely upright except in the transept. Traces remain of a Perpendicular west window, a round-headed south porch with stone benches and a flue, and lancet windows in the nave and chancel. An archaeological survey in 2005, led by Robert Waterhouse, found three image brackets still in place. Most fittings were sold or removed, including alabaster reredoses to Galmpton and bench ends to Powderham Castle. The Friends of Friendless Churches took over the site in 1976 and stabilised the ruins, removing the top two metres of the tower and rebuilding one granite window from fallen stones. An annual service is still held among the ivy-clad walls, where wind and weather shape the remaining stonework.