Church Heritage Record 637144

North-west campanile-like tower. 4-bay clerestoried nave with narrow lean-to aisles and apsed baptistery at west end. Chancel with north and south transepts (Lady Chapel to north, organ chamber to south) and shallow sanctuary. Glass extension attached to south side.

[Approximate] Nave 22m (72ft) x 11m (36ft), aisles 2m (6½ ft) wide, choir 7½ m (24½ ft) long, sanctuary 3m (10ft) long.

St Andrew’s was built 1871-72 and was consecrated in 1872. The church was designed by Arthur W Blomfield, later Sir Blomfield and Vice-President of the RIBA, ‘one of the last great Gothic revivalists’ [Oxford DNB]. Pevsner describes Blomfield’s design as ‘early, and therefore more vigorous than he usually is’. The 110ft tall tower, not part of Blomfield’s initial concept, was added during construction as a memorial to the recovery from illness of the Prince of Wales (Edward VII). Its foundations were already in place when the church was consecrated.

St Andrew’s was built to serve Surbiton’s increasing populous, still growing from the arrival of the railway in 1838. The St Andrew’s Square area forms a later phase of Surbiton “New Town” developed from 1838 by Thomas Poole. Although St Mark’s had been built to the north-east in 1845, it became necessary to construct a second church. St Andrew’s was paid for by public subscription on land provided by the bankers Coutts & Co. A temporary iron church previously stood on St Andrew’s Road. Surrounding houses are dated 1860-80s.

The archaeological potential of the site is low, although the Greater London HER records Roman urns and Neolithic axes having been found by the river within 500 metres of the site. There are no known designations relating to the ecology of the plot, but it is situated within a conservation area and contains a mature yew tree.

A large church in the form of an early Christian basilica expressed in a Gothic style. Constructed in brick with bands of yellow and red brick interspersed with Bath sandstone dressings, to polychromatic effect. The church has a steeply pitched tile roof and is very tall with prominent gabled north and south transepts. Though the church is a sizeable structure as a whole, a tall north-west campanile-like tower, with saddle-back roof, serves as a particularly dominant landmark. The tower attaches at its base to the north aisle, and functions as a porch though regular access can now also be gained through the new extension attached to the south aisle.

A glass and steel structure was attached to the south of the church in 2009. A gabled glazed façade faces the street, linked to the south aisle by a flat-roofed lobby. The church’s lean-to aisles have three pointed windows to each bay, with buttresses between each. There are two pointed lancets to each bay in the clerestory, in the nave wall above. At the west end is a lean-to narthex roof. Access was initially through doors, at either end of the narthex, until the tower was completed a short time later. The doors are still evident beneath pointed brick surrounds either side of the apsidal baptistery with its conical roof. The end walls of the narthex curve back to finish the corners, and are pierced with three lancet windows. Above the west narthex the west window is composed of two lancets beneath cinquefoil windows, set within a recessed pointed arch with a multifoil window at its apex. A niche with a statue of St Andrew is placed centrally between them.

The transepts terminate in a window composition similar to that at the west end, but with an additional central light, forming a five-light window. At the east end a boiler house is evident beneath the lean-to north-east vestry (now flower room). A chimney extends beyond the roofline above it. Angle buttresses to each wall/corner.

The interior is wide, spacious and light with pointed-arch arcades either side of the wide nave. The roof is a timber boarded barrel-type truss roof with tie beams. The windows are either filled with stained glass or cathedral glass (mostly the clerestory) and suspended modern light fittings supplement light levels. A new level floor, up to the choir, is paved in black and white tiles with iron heating grilles. White painted aisle walls provide additional enhancement to the space. All remaining walls display their elaborate polychrome brickwork, mostly formed by the use of bands of red, yellow and white brick. Additional decorative effect is established either side of the sanctuary arch and the east window by introducing other patterns such as diamonds and crosses. Arches and arcades are all picked out in red.

At the west end the apsidal baptistery has a decorative painted wood ceiling depicting the story of the ark painted by Lavers and Westlake. A curved bench follows the line of the wall. Three pointed lancets contain stained glass.

The nave has been reseated with stackable Luke Hughes’ benches which are supplemented by Howe 40/4s and folding plastic chairs at the back. The south-west corner is laid out as a reading area. A glazed north door links to the porch, whilst a glazed link in the south aisle joins the church with the new extension. Windows removed from the south wall during the construction are now suspended within steel frames from the relevant arcade.

From the lobby the different rooms of the extension can be accessed. A café area faces the road with kitchen and WCs in the middle and a meeting room to the rear. Another door accesses the organ chamber within the south transept.

In the north-east corner of the church, the Lady Chapel has been partially separated from the chancel by glazing the wood screen which surrounds it and by the insertion of a low ceiling, supported on metal columns. A glazed central section allows light through but presents a cleaning challenge due to lack of access. The space is carpeted and chairs provide a flexible seating arrangement. Stained glass is sited above on the east and west walls but is not easily seen. Hanging above, within the arch of the north transept is a rood relocated from the chancel arch. The organ occupies the opposite transept.

A flower room in the north-east corner was formerly the vestry whilst a room now used for storing staging in the south-east corner was the choir vestry. These functions have relocated to spaces at the north-west and south-west corners and also into the extension.

The choir, which is raised by three steps and sits between the transepts, is also seated with Luke Hughes’ furniture. The back pew of the old stalls forms part of the screens to either side. Two of the old choir stalls have been fixed to the north and south aisle walls. A shallow sanctuary extends beyond a very tall brick chancel arch in the east wall. The brickwork to either side is of a heightened pattern. The east wall is striking and forms an eye-catching focus along the length of the church. Glazed tiles rise to dado level with mosaic designs set within stone niches above, these sit either side of a decorative stone reredos and beneath a three-light east window.