St Andrews Church - Colyton - Devon

St Andrew's Church sits in a valley at the heart of the delightful East Devon town of Colyton. It has been the focus for community life for centuries and is much-loved by the local folk.

There was a succession of Saxon churches at Colyton beginning around the year 700 AD. Sometime around AD 744 a timber church was built to act as a minster, or mother church of the region. In the late 12th century a Norman church was built of stone, on a cruciform layout with a central tower. Over the medieval period, the chancel was lengthened, the nave raised, side aisles added, and a magnificent west window added.

The west window is the largest of any English parish church, and it truly is an impressive sight.

About six years ago it was decided that the lighting installation in the building was no longer fit for purpose.

Over 30 years old, it was expensive to run and maintain, and the PCC experienced failures of several bulbs and fittings: one nave lamp actually exploded during a Sunday service.

Holy Fire suddenly took on a new dimension!

I suppose the best endorsements of the project have come from the local community. The lighting side of things was completed just before Christmas 2020, and the response both to the internal and external lighting over Christmas and New Year was unanimously enthusiastic.

Working with the team at AJS was a very positive experience and we would be happy to recommend them to any future clients and to show them the installation at St Andrews.

David Fouracre, Churchwarden & Project Leader

The new lighting installation comprises latest generation LED light fittings of various power outputs and focal beam widths.

This is controlled by a DALI dimmable scene setting system which gives many lighting variations ranging from specific service scenes to settings for film screenings and concerts all at the touch of a button.

Our initial visit to the church was in 2017 and following this an outline specification and a likely budget cost was given. Future visits demonstrated carefully selected LED light fittings and a detailed specification was delivered for faculty approval following input from David and the PCC at St Andrews.

"As with all churches we are involved with, it was a privilege to be invited to specify and install a new lighting system for St Andrews which both enhances the fine architectural features for the many visitors to the area and to provide lighting flexibility for liturgical and community uses."

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