We’ve been to the little town south of us, Burnham-on-Sea, literally dozens of times, and we have driven past the church of St Andrews as many times as we have been there, but I guess we have done no more than glance at it. However, the other day we had a little trip, to see where my husband is going to be exhibiting his paintings, and we decided to stop for a coffee and a wander.
We came across the church and decided to investigate, as we like old churches very much. The church is really old, the twelfth century, and was probably built on the site of an older church. and it is wonderful inside, elegant, open, interesting. It has a gallery along one side of the nave which you can go up to and survey the church from above. It ha a wonderful chandelier, apparently called The Branches, and it has some amazing marble sculptures. These are parts of an altar piece designed by the famous Inigo Jones…. or maybe Christopher Wren, I have found both men mentioned! There is no doubt that they were carved by the equally famous Grinling Gibbons. It was actually commissioned for a chapel in Whitehall Palace by King James II. It was designed as a tableau of cherubs, flanked by two angels and mounted on pedestals. At some point it was taken from the Palace to Westminster Abbey, where it stood behind the High Alter. So how did such an amazing piece of art, decorating the worship places of the highest in the land, come to be in little Burnham-on-Sea?
In 1820 the Bishop of Rochester was also the vicar of Burnham; somehow he acquired the tableau and used parts of it to decorate the chancel of Saint Andrews church. The sculptures are now arranged around the church, including the nave window ledges and behind the altar.
Another interesting thing about the church is that it has a leaning tower! It is 78 foot high and leans at an angle of 15%; it happened soon after it was built due to poor foundations. Like our church in Uphill, it was used in the past to guide ships safely home.
Lois Elsden 