The Church of St Andrew is a Church of England parish church in the centre of Rugby, in Warwickshire, England. It is a grade II* listed building. It is unique in having two peals of bells hung in separate towers and is part of the Major Churches Network. History The first record of a church at the site was from 1140, originally as a chapel of the mother church at nearby Clifton-upon-Dunsmore, until Rugby became a parish in 1221. Nothing remains of the original church, as it was rebuilt in either the 13th or 14th century. The oldest surviving part of the church is the high west tower, which is unusual in that its appearance and construction bears strong resemblance to that of a castle tower, meaning it was likely built to serve a defensive as well as religious role. According to a local legend, the tower was built from stones from a castle at Rugby, which had been demolished on the orders of Henry II, who forbade private fortifications without royal approval, however there was no prohibition against fortified churches, and so the tower may have been constructed, nominally as an addition to the church, but in reality as a way to provide a place of defence, while still conforming to the statute. The west tower is usually dated to the 14th century, but was possibly built during the reign of Henry III (1216–1272), and is Rugby's oldest building. The church has other artefacts of medieval Rugby including the 13th-century parish chest, and a medieval font. In order to cater for the growing population of the town, the church was extensively rebuilt on a much larger footprint in the 19th century, to the designs of William Butterfield, retaining only the tower and nave arcade from the medieval church. These works were carried out between 1877 and 1879. From 1895 to 1896, further additions were made to the church by Ewan Christian to Butterfield's original designs, including a new east tower, added in 1895 which has a spire high. Very unusually, both of the church towers have ringable bells, the main peal of bells (all cast in 1896 by Mears & Stainbank, London) being located in the eastern tower, and the old peal (all cast in 1711 by Joseph Smith of Edgbaston) located in the western tower. On 11 October 1949, the church was designated a grade II* listed building.