St Andrew's Church, Gunton

St Andrew’s Church stands in a wooded clearing east of Gunton Hall in Hanworth, Norfolk. It was built in 1769 by Robert Adam for Sir William Harbord, replacing a medieval predecessor. The church is the only complete church Adam designed in England and the only one he built in Norfolk. It is now cared for by the Churches Conservation Trust and is listed at Grade I. The building sits among tall trees, giving it a quiet, sheltered feel. The church is a fine example of Neo-Palladian architecture with a temple front. Its gault-brick walls have stone dressings and a tetrastyle prostyle portico on three steps. Inside, the stone floor has black diamond-shaped inserts and the altar is reached by two curved steps. Behind the altar is an oak reredos with fluted Corinthian columns and gilded capitals. The west gallery holds a two-manual organ and box pews with brass gas lamps. Visitors enter through a circular lobby with two doors and find ornate plasterwork on the walls. Hatchments hang on the north, south and west walls, and the ceiling has an oval panel with guilloché and a central rose. The east wall bears a memorial tablet dated 1665. The woodland setting and classical proportions make the church a peaceful place to explore.