St Andrew's Church, Dent

The church is constructed in rubble stone. The nave has a stone slate roof, and the roofs of the aisles are in copper. Its architectural style is mainly Perpendicular. The plan consists of a nave and chancel in one range with a clerestory, north and south aisles running the whole length of the church, a south porch, and a west tower. The tower has a square-headed south doorway, a small west window, a clock face on the south side, and two-light louvred bell openings. At the top of the tower is an embattled parapet. To the west of the north aisle is a lean-to structure containing a round-headed west doorway. The south porch is gabled with a round-headed doorway, leading to a pointed-arched doorway into the church. Along the sides of the clerestory on each side are four two-light windows in the nave, and two three-light windows in the chancel. The south aisle has a two-light window adjacent to the porch, and four three-light windows to the east of it. Under the fourth window is a round-headed priest's door. On the north side of the church is a blocked round-headed doorway towards the west, then windows similar to those of the south aisle. The east window has five lights, and is flanked by two three-light windows.[2] Norman features have been retained in the blocked north doorway, and in parts of the nave and tower.[3]

The six-bay arcades are carried on cylindrical and octagonal piers. The chancel is paved with polished Dent Marble in a black-and-white chequer pattern. The octagonal oak pulpit is dated 1614, and has a sounding board. There are 17th-century box pews and 18th-century benches in the aisles.[2] The octagonal font is made from Barrow limestone. The stained glass in the east window depicts the Te Deum.[3] The memorials include a marble wall tablet to the geologist Adam Sedgwick who died in 1873. Above the entrance are the Royal arms of George III dated 1792.[2] The two-manual organ was built in about 1892 by H. S. Vincent and Company. It was restored in 2009 by Harrison and Harrison.[7] There is a ring of six bells, all cast in 1787 by William Mears at the Whitechapel Bell Foundry. The ring of bells were overhauled in 2011 by the same bell foundry.[8] They were chrismated (named) by the former Archbishop of York, Dr David Hope on 1 March 2011 enabling them to be pealed for the first time since the Armistice in 1918 on Sunday 6 March 2011.