St Andrew
Boxford, Berkshire
A truly ancient parish church in a picturesque setting on the River Lambourn.
In fact, the body of the church was built in the 1840s by architect Benjamin Ferrey.
It has a nave and north aisle, both with very high, dark roofs. And it is in the dimness of these roofs that the surprises lurk: there are carved angels in the nave, and eight enormous elephant heads in the aisle. They are here because the man paying for the new church, William Nicholson, saw four papier mache elephant heads at an exhibition in Paris, thought they would look good in the church, and had four more specially made to go with them.
The decor in the rest of the church is exuberant, but it's the elephants that stay in the memory.