The church of St Andrew’s has been a central pillar of the community of Sutton (later to become Plymouth upon the merger of the three towns) for more than 1200 years. The church which is dedicated to St Andrew who is the patron saint of fisherman was most probably a low wooden building which was hidden behind Plymouth Hoe to keep it out of sight of any marauding pirates. Itinerant priests served the church until the first vicar – Elpheage – was appointed in 1087. The parish was given to the canons at Plympton Priory by the Normans in 1121 and it was the canons who built the first stone church in circa 1170. They also retained the patronage to the church for the next four centuries.
St Andrew’s grew from it’s original, basic cruciform shape after 1385 with the addition of firstly 2 chapels, then 2 aisles and transepts. The tower was the final addition and was completed sometime around 1490, thanks to the financial contribution of a family of wealthy merchants – The Yogge family. They then subsequently also helped with the building of Prysten House (the Old Abbey) to live in which is situated directly behind St Andrew’s to the south.
From the outside, the appearance of the church is much the same as it was in 1500. During the Reformation and the Commonwealth, the interior changed gradually, but the so called restoration in 1826 left the church a shadow of itself after much of the old woodwork had been destroyed including a finely carved screen. Sir Gilbert Scott carried out a careful restoration in 1875 improving the interior with the opening up of the tower arch and the removal of the galleries and high pews.
During the blitz of Plymouth in 1941, incendiary bombs landed on the church. Unfortunately, the fire was so great that the church was burnt out and left as a roofless shell. A board bearing the word RESURGAM (Latin for ‘I will rise again’) later appeared over the North Door of the church to show the community spirit during that time. The main body of the church, was cleared of rubble in 1943. Lawns were laid and flower beds created within the shell. At the east end of the Church a covered altar was erected from which open air services were conducted causing St Andrew’s to be become famous as the “Garden Church”. In 1949 the then Princess Elizabeth (later to become Queen Elizabeth II) visited St Andrew’s and unveiled a tablet to mark the beginning of the reconstruction of the church. The church was rebuilt and redesigned internally but it was still basically the church that had been created in the 15th century and was re-consecrated in 1957. 5 stained glass windows were installed into the church between 1957 and 1967.
In celebration of the role St Andrew’s plays in the life of the diocese and in recognition of its historic role as a place of worship and mission for the city, it was awarded Minster status in 2009 and continues to shine in this role.
In order to find the cache you will need to visit the locations and answer the questions to find the final coordinates
N50 (Fx3)-B.(E-D)C(E-D-B) W004 (E+K+B).(A-B)(F-K)(G+J-H)
Stage 1: What date was the plaque donated Ath June BCDE
Stage 2: How many letters are in the word above the door F
What is the church phone number 01752 GGHJHJ
Stage 3: The number of stone crosses on this end of the church K
Checksum A-K = 33
Tweezers will be useful
Thanks to Plymouth City Council for allowing this cache
FTF honours will go to all those who find the cache on the first day
If you would like to add to the Church Micro series yourself then please look here
http://churchmicro.co.uk/
There is also a Church Micro Stats & Information page that can be found at
http://www.15ddv.me.uk/geo/cm/index.html