St Andrew's Church, Walpole

St Andrew’s Church stands in Walpole St Andrew, a village eight miles west of King’s Lynn in Norfolk. The church occupies the north part of the village, beside the A17 road. It is a redundant Anglican building, looked after by the Churches Conservation Trust and protected as a Grade I listed structure. Traces of an earlier church survive in its fabric, and Roman remains have been found nearby. The present church was built mainly in the 15th century, with later restorations in 1811, 1897 and 1902. The church is worth visiting for its fine Perpendicular architecture and the craftsmanship of its fittings. Bequests in 1443, 1463 and 1504 helped pay for the nave, porch and lead roof. The tower contains an anchorite cell under a lean-to roof, a rare survival. Inside, the 17th-century gallery and pulpit, the 15th-century octagonal font and the Royal arms of George III add layers of history. The ring of six bells spans four centuries, from a 1603 casting by Richard Holdfield to a 1905 addition by John Taylor and Company. Visitors find a four-bay nave with clerestory, north and south aisles, a south porch and a three-bay chancel. The west tower rises in three stages, its crenellated parapet topped by corner pinnacles. The exterior brickwork is exposed on the tower but rendered elsewhere, and the roof is covered in lead. Inside, four-bay arcades lead to the chancel, where a piscina and double aumbry survive. The 1873 Forster and Andrews organ and the worn stonework of the arcades, chancel step and pulpit base complete the scene.