The original churchyard lies to the north of the present church but has later extensions to the east and west. All parts of the churchyard are contained within stonewalls.
The extension to the east contains a number of War Graves Commission war graves in addition to some private graves of servicemen who served at RAF Andreas during and immediately after World War II. This part also contains an interesting headstone recording the deaths at sea of William James and James Shimmin see (
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St. Andrew’s is part of the Parish of The Northern Plain and is one of six churches in this Parish the others being St. Mary de Ballaugh, Ballaugh Old Church, St. Patrick's In Jurby, St. Jude in St. Judes and St. Stephen in Sulby.
The Church was built in 1802, or possibly 1800, of Manx Stone from Sulby Glen on the site of an ancient Keeill or chapel dedicated to St. Columba; and is claimed to be one of the oldest on the Island. The bell tower was added later in 1869 and was designed by Henry Christian.
The Church was dedicated on 1st November 1821 - All Saints Day.
The Church is now largely Victorian in appearances thanks to substantial additions but there is in fact the shell of a late Georgian building underneath.
An earlier church stood just to north of the present church (on the right as you enter cemetery), its site marked by a slight hillock, though no visible structure remains. There remain faint traces of the circular rhullick that once surrounded this earlier church present churchyard.
There have also been finds in the churchyard dating from the Viking period, including swords and other weapons. Indications of still earlier activity have also been found in the immediate vicinity of the churchyard, in the form of both Neolithic and Bronze Age burials and prehistoric worked flints.
There is a collection of carved at the rear of the church. The more significant of the these are listed below:
Andreas 99 – Gaut’s Cross
Andreas 121 – Sigurd Cross
Andreas 128 – Thorwald’s Cross
Andreas 131 – Sandulf’s Cross
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source: Churches of Man by Jonathan Kewley (ISBN 978-1-899602-82-7)
source: An Introduction To The Architecture of the Isle of Man by Patricia Tutt (ISBN 978-1-907945-10-6)
source: Archaeological Sites of the Isle of Man up to 1500 by Andrew Johnson & Allison Fox (ISBN 978-0-9554043-5-1).