History of Trumpington Parish Church

This is an edited version of a talk on the History of Trumpington Parish Church given to the Local History Group in the Church on 13 October 2011 , when participants were welcomed to the Church on behalf of the congregation. Edmund Brookes is a Churchwarden who has known the Church for over 50 years.

See also the general introduction to the Parish Church. Current information about the Church is available on the Parish Church web site .

Photos: Andrew Roberts, October 2011.

The south side of Trumpington Church from the churchyard.

Edmund Brookes
October 2011

Introduction

Trumpington Parish Church is now dedicated to St Mary and St Michael but was previously known as St Mary and St Nicholas and is referred to by this name on some occasions. We are not sure when the current dedication was adopted. We are truly blessed to be able to worship in such a magnificent building, which is in such a good state of repair.

This paper describes the building, its features and the development of the structure. Any paper about a building so old, beautiful and well documented can only scratch the surface, but my aim is to whet your appetite to look further, to misquote Sir Christopher Wren’s tombstone. There is further information in the sources listed below.

In A Cambridgeshire Village , Edith Carr (1973) makes few references to the Church except that “it played an important part in the lives of mediaeval England” and held vast tracts of land including 500 acres in Trumpington belonging to the Convent at Ely in 991AD. The Bishops of Ely seemed to take a close interest in the area. Carr concludes that no records exist of the earlier church. She quotes Blomefield as saying “rectors presented vicars and in 1389 the nuns of Haliwell presented rectors”. Briefly the difference between a rector and vicar had more real significance in olden times than now. A rector had responsibilities, such as repairing the Chancel, whereas a vicar had not. Of course in the past the pay of vicars was proportionately more than it is now. There was and still is a system of patronage: Trinity College is our patron.

I clearly recall John Tanfield, my celebrated history master at the Perse School and well known Cambridge thespian, stating in our first year, when we studied local history, that Trumpington paid a tax of thousands of eels a year to Ely.

Over the years, especially during and after World War I, the village changed. It was a spectacular example of ribbon development right through to Shelford. The building of Foster Road and Paget Roads after World War II moved the village centre away from the church, so that the church now sits at the edge of the built up area, though that may change. As Christianity as part of the life of this country has changed over the last half century, being on the edge rather than in the community makes our visibility harder to maintain, though the Church stands well as you approach from Harston, more so than from Grantchester, but is scarcely visible from either the Shelford or Cambridge directions. Anyway, we are where we are and this magnificent building remains solid and in good order. When it is safe to do so, there is a very good view from the Tower.

Trumpington Church from the north and south, October 2011.

The structure

We do not know how long there has been a church on this site but earnestly believe that there was a wooden Saxon church before the present structure was started. There would have been locally grown timber but no stone to speak of. The Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (1959) refers to the walls being chiefly of Barnack stone, with some Ketton and Ancaster stone, none of it particularly tough, but it has stood the test of time. We can be assured that there has been a stone building on this site for centuries. At the back of the church adjacent to the Vestry door is a record of Rectors and Vicars who have served here, starting with Hendricus (Rector) and Ioce or Jocius (Vicar) in 1220.

Looking from the Nave towards the east window and from the Chancel towards the Tower. Trumpington Church, October 2011.

The building is essentially 14th century with the Chancel and Tower being 13th century. There was either an earlier stone Nave, or this was the site of the wooden Saxon church with stone additions to the east and west. It is generally accepted that the earlier Nave was an aisled stone building dating from the late 12th or earlier 13th century, as there are bases at the west end of the South Aisle from that period (Royal Commission on Historical Monuments, 1959).

The base of a pillar dated to c. 1200 AD at the west end of the South Aisle. Trumpington Church, October 2011.

There are few parish churches around here as lofty, wide and so well proportioned and with such slender pillars as St Mary & St Michaels’. In the 1950s, the University’s Department of Architecture used to bring its students here specifically to view them. The pillars are nicely formed and very thin, giving a high but well lit and airy Nave.

The Chancel’s east window contained medieval glass until 1990; though now plain, it is still a magnificent window. The wooden roof is again Medieval; when the Chancel was restored in 1964, specks of the original colours were found under a drab ochre, I think it was limewash. A rapid decision was taken to recreate the colouring and the blue roof was done darker than you now see, so that it naturally faded to its current colours. In addition the spars were picked out. It has fine bosses. It is a false roof and you can see the true line from the Nave and exterior.

The east window and the Chancel and Nave roofs from the Chancel. Trumpington Church, October 2011.

At one time there was a Sacristry off the north side of the Chancel and the internal portico is still apparent. The marble behind the altar is I believe more modern. For years it was covered by a curtain, but under Reverend Thistlethwaite the central block behind the altar (which is actually cement) was given a marbled finish and the curtain removed. It is hard to tell the marble from the marbled. The sanctuary was reordered with a new communion rail courtesy of Lord Baker about 45 years ago in memory of his mother and sister. It is paved with beautiful York stone. Some of the wood panelling is 20th century though the choir stalls are 19th century.

The Chancel, sanctuary and blocked-up door to the former Sacristry. The sanctuary and communion table, with a double piscina on the south wall. Trumpington Church, October 2011.

Pevsner (1954) notes the 19th century refurbishments under the celebrated architect William Butterfield. The Nave roof was replaced and lifted by Butterfield when he re-ordered the church in 1876. The basic structure is pitch pine and there was great concern in the 1960s that it was liable to infestation by death-watch beetle which was then prevalent. The Nave was scaffolded at the same time as the Chancel and I went up the scaffolding with my father. Fortunately it was a scare and the timber was treated and the plaster lime-washed. No one has been up since, though it has been closely inspected with binoculars! From this one can conclude that the earlier roof (i.e. 14th century) was high and Butterfield put it back to where it was! A Victorian photograph suggests that the current roof is the third, as it was obviously taken before the present roof was installed by Butterfield.

Left: The Nave roof from the organ loft. Right: The south and east sides of the tower showing the earlier roof-line. Trumpington Church, October 2011.

Above: Trumpington Church from the North East , 1840s. Included in Cambridge Camden Society (1845). Churches of Cambridgeshire and the Isle of Ely . Cambridgeshire Collection.
Below: Trumpington Church from the north, October 2011.

Looking at the Nave stonework you can see where it is the softer Barnack stone, but it will not need replacing for centuries. Butterfield also fitted new pews to replace the rather ancient high and disorderly ones which had rather split up the Nave.

The North and South Chapels are also 13th century. There is a vault under the North Chapel which was inspected about 2001 when the floor was levelled.

Left and centre: The South and North Aisle from the organ loft. Right: The North Chapel from the North Aisle. Trumpington Church, October 2011.

At the west end, the lofty Tower is 13th century with a little 14th century infill in the west wall of the south Aisle. It is in very good order. The north and south porches and Vestry are 19th century.

Outside the roofs are lead covered, with some old scratchings which are illustrated in the books, except the Chancel roof which is tiled. So we conclude that the lead roof is quite old. The Parochial Church Council is aware that at some time in the foreseeable future it will need rerolling, as it is prone to small leaks around the nails which hold the sheets in place.

The south roof-line and the north porch. Trumpington Church, October 2011.

Stained glass

The ancient glass from the central panel of the east window was a collection of pieces which are now in a window below the Fawcett window in the Chancel, in a window above the vicar’s stall or being conserved at the University of York. Some consider it some of the oldest glass in Cambridge. The University of York has recently given the church the result of its studies and we hope to have the remaining glass back suitably conserved. When re-glazed in 1991, stiffening bars/rods were inserted in the East Window and you can just see them if you look closely. It certainly lets the light in, especially at an early morning service with a low sun.

Left: Medieval glass in a window near the screen on the south side of the Chancel. Right: The window on the north side of Chancel behind the vicar’s stall, including Medieval glass. Trumpington Church, October 2011.

The majority of the remaining stained glass is 19th century with some particularly fine windows. These include the Whit Window in the South Aisle ( The Feeding of the 5000 ) and the Fawcett Memorial in the south wall of the Chancel. The south windows in the South Chapel are modern, and refer to someone still living.

Left: The Witt Window, to Amy Witt and George and Elizabeth Witt, east end of the South Aisle. Right: The Fawcett Window, to Henry Fawcett (1833-84), on the south side of the Chancel. Trumpington Church, October 2011.

Muniments

With a couple of exceptions, most of the memorials are Victorian. They commemorate the Anstey and Foster families at Anstey Hall and vicars especially the Hailstones. At one time, Trumpington was a home for Trinity Fellows when they married and many then served the parish with distinction. Reverend Hailstone was a notable example who ministered well to the parish for many years and is remembered by a tablet on the Chancel wall, as is his wife. He was in his late 80s when he died and he left some money for charity.

The memorial to Rev. John Hailstone (d. 1847), north wall of the Chancel. Trumpington Church, October 2011.

Some of the memorials are to the Pemberton family, especially in the North Chapel. When I first came to Trumpington, this was referred to as the Pemberton Chapel with lateral seats used by the family at Matins. The memorials and window on the north wall commemorate Sir Francis Pemberton, died 1697, Lt Col. Pemberton, died in Bangalore in 1876, and Capt. Pemberton who died early in World War I in Flanders.

Left: Monument to Sir Francis Pemberton, d. 1697. Centre: Window commemorating Lieut. Colonel F. Pemberton Campbell, d. 1876. Right: Tablet to Francis Percy Campbell Pemberton, d. 1914, inscription by Eric Gill. North Chapel, Trumpington Church, October 2011.