St Andrew’s Church, Wroxeter

Just down the road from the impressive ruins of Wroxeter Roman City, sits the historic St Andrew’s Church. Evidence of the ancient Roman town is everywhere, including the church building, which incorporates Roman bricks and stones throughout. The churchyard entrance is guarded by gateposts made from two Roman columns, large blocks of Roman stone are built into the nave walls, and the huge font is made from an inverted Roman column base. The orientation of the church suggests that is was constructed to stand parallel with a Roman street.

Though the church and some of the building dates to the late Saxon period, it has been altered and enlarged throughout the centuries.

Set into the south wall is a 4ft long section of an 8th or 9th century Mercian cross shaft. The nave was rebuilt in late 12th century, and the aisle and chapel date to the early 13th century, as early as the year 1200. The west tower was added in the 15th century and was altered in the following century.

The interior and furnishings are mostly Jacobean and Georgian, dating from the 17th and 18th centuries.

Inside the church are three beautiful 16th-century alabaster tombs, each lifesize and lifelike. The earliest and finest tomb is Elizabethan, with beautifully detailed alabaster effigies, which commemorates Sir Thomas Bromley, Lord Chief Justice of England, and his wife Mabel. Opposite their tomb is that of the couple’s daughter Margaret, alongside her husband Sir Richard Newport, who is dressed in full armour.