Sandy Church Architecture

Sandy church about 1815 by Thomas Fisher

Sandy was mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 and it seems reasonable to infer that there was a parish church here before the Norman Conquest of 1066. The earliest known Rector of Sandy was installed about 1209.

The church from the west April 2010

Saint Swithun's church is built of ironstone. The church we see today is a mostly 19th century building by the architect W. G. Habershon. The oldest part of the building is the 15th century west tower.

Piscina May 2010

Some medieval building material and features also survive in the chancel, nave and both north and south aisles. Survivals include a piscina and the sedilia, the 15th century font and a fragment of a reredos in the chancel. Sir Nikolaus Pevsner in the Bedfordshire volume of his Buildings of England series describes it as "a 15th century alabaster panel of the frequent Nottingham type. It belongs to a scene of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane".

Sedilia May 2010

Early 19th century pictures and a description by Archdeacon Bonney of the 1820s give an idea of what the medieval church was like. It contained a chancel, north and south transept, nave and both north and south aisles. The arcades of both aisles contained octagonal columns. The west tower included battlements. There was a south porch. Bonney noted: "The general Character of the Church is the Decorated; but there are some perpendicular insertions".

Remnant of painted reredos May 2010