St Andrew's Church, Backwell


The Anglican parish Church of St. Andrew in Backwell, Somerset, England, dates from the 12th century. It was altered and enlarged in the 13th, 15th, 16th and 17th centuries. It has been designated as a Grade I listed building.
The four stage tower at the west end of the church is over tall and dates from the 15th century. It contains a ring of eight bells, two of which are medieval.
The font dates from the 12th century. It consists of a circular bowl with cable moulding, and a circular stem with foliate moulding on the base. It was restored in 1907. The Rood Screen is from the early 16th century.
The parish is part of the benefice of Backwell with Chelvey and Brockley within the deanery of Portishead.
A new building attached to the church and containing social and office space was added in 1984.
There are plans to install solar panels on the roof of the church.

Churchyard

The churchyard includes a 15th-century cross. There is also a crucifix which is a memorial to a local airman Pat Garnett. It was made by Arthur George Walker and was sited below Backwell Hill House before becoming rusted and overgrown. It was restored and moved to the churchyard by Laurence Tindall in 1997. The churchyard also contains war graves of a York and Lancaster Regiment officer and an airman of World War II.
The Churchyard has very limited land space remaining for future burials; the field adjacent to the church is earmarked for a potential housing development and thus cannot be purchased. As a result, the church has restricted future burials to Backwell residents only, and is requesting permission to reuse existing graves that have no memorials and are more than 80 years old.