The city of Cambridge: Churches

CHURCHES

All Saints by the Castle.

It seems probable that there was a church on Castle Hill well before the Norman Conquest. Gravestones, the artistic style of which indicates a date between 975 and 1050, were found within the castle enclosure early in the 19th century. The church to which the graveyard belonged may have been destroyed when the castle was built or may have survived as the castle chapel. (fn. 1)

All Saints by the Castle is no longer traceable, its site, on the western side of the Huntingdon Road where it entered the castle enclosure, being occupied by a walled nursery garden. Its advowson was granted to Barnwell in 1219 by the Blancgernon family, most of whose land lay in the parish. (fn. 2) It was valued at £3 6s. 8d. in 1217, 1254, and 1278; and at £4 13s. 4d. in 1291. (fn. 3) Between 1257 and 1264 it was appropriated to Barnwell by Bishop Hugh of Balsham (fn. 4) but the depopulation after the Black Death was such that in 1365 Bishop Langham of Ely united the parish with that of St. Giles, (fn. 5) and the church fell into ruins, which are indicated on the map of 1634. (fn. 6)

There is an inventory of the church goods for 1278. (fn. 7)

All Saints, like St. Clement and St. Giles, served not infrequently as a sanctuary for prisoners escaped from the castle gaol. In 1286 seven such fugitives took refuge there. (fn. 8)

All Saints in the Jewry or by the Hospital.

All Saints, which formerly stood in St. John's Street, opposite to St. John's hospital, is first mentioned, with the lands and tithe pertaining to it, as having been bestowed upon the monks of St. Albans in the days of Abbot Paul (1077–93). (fn. 9) They apparently failed to retain it, for a Cambridge townsman called Sturmi (fn. 10) gave the advowson in 1180 to St. Radegund's, whose prioress Lettice was his sister, 'to hold as freely as he and his ancestors had held it'. (fn. 11)

Bishop Geoffrey Ridel instituted the nuns in the rectory and appointed a vicar who was to pay them 20s. a year and render all the episcopal customs, but so that they might freely appoint his successor. (fn. 12) At the Dissolution of the nunnery the advowson passed to Jesus College.

Between 1246 and 1258 the parish of St. Radegund, consisting of the nun's demesne lands, was detached from All Saints parish: it remained distinct until the Dissolution. The church of St. Radegund 'served all the purposes and had all the privileges of a parish church', and as late as 1555 the farmers of the demesne lands adjoining Jesus College retained the right of attending the college church, though the privilege was then obsolescent. The rectory of St. Radegund's as well as that of All Saints was appropriated to the nunnery, and the chaplain was appointed and paid by the nuns, without reference to the bishop. (fn. 13) The two parishes were formally united in 1857. (fn. 14)

All Saints in the Jewry was valued at £5 6s. 3½d. in 1535. (fn. 15) In 1650 the parsonage house was valued at £13 16s. and was leased by Jesus College to Christopher Rose. The tithes were valued at £20, and John Rowse was impropriator, as the lessee of the college. The commissioners proposed that St. Michael should be united with All Saints, 'All Saints standing most convenient for both parishes'. (fn. 16) There is an inventory of its church goods for 1278. (fn. 17)

The old church was destroyed in 1865, when St. John's Street was widened. As LeKeux' print showed, (fn. 18) the tower had rested on an arch over the pavement.

The new church stands in Jesus Lane, opposite the entrance to Jesus College; it was designed by G. F. Bodley and decorated by William Morris, and contains the font from the old church. The parish registers begin in 1538, the minute book in 1611, and the churchwardens' accounts in 1617. The church possesses a copy of Bullinger's Fiftie Godlie and Learned Sermons, 1587. In 1900 a legacy of £500 for the care of the church was received. (fn. 19)

Holy Sepulchre.

At some date between 1114 and 1130 Reinald, Abbot of Ramsey, granted to the members of the fraternity of the Holy Sepulchre the graveyard of St. George's church and land adjoining to build thereon a 'monasterium' in honour of God and the Holy Sepulchre, always provided that the church of Ramsey retained its rights there. (fn. 20) It seems that Ramsey had been the patron of an earlier church of St. George, but no other mention of it is known. The architecture of the oldest part of St. Sepulchre is consistent with the date 1120–40. (fn. 21) It is one of the four or five round churches in England, and probably consisted originally of a round nave with an ambulatory and a semicircular apse. A chancel and north and south aisle to the east of the round were added, probably in the 15th century, when a polygonal belfry was built over it. (fn. 22)

In 1841, part of the ambulatory having fallen in, the Cambridge Camden Society, a body with High Anglican sympathies, undertook the restoration of the church. The 15th-century bell-tower was replaced by a neo-Romanesque conical roof and the 15th-century windows replaced by copies of a surviving 12th-century one. The erection of a stone altar and credence-table led to a lawsuit and the temporary closing of the church in 1843–5; the Court of Arches declared them illegal in January 1845 and they were removed. (fn. 23)

By the middle of the 13th century the advowson had come into the possession of Barnwell Priory, which also had the appropriation. (fn. 24) At the Dissolution, since the Crown failed to exercise its patronage, (fn. 25) the right to present passed to the churchwardens and parishioners and the vicar is today elected by the parochial church council. (fn. 26)

In 1217 the church was valued at £1 13s. 4d.; in 1254 at 13s. 4d.; in 1276 at £4 13s. 4d.; in 1402 at £5 and in 1535 at £6 11s. (fn. 27) In 1650 it had had no minister for eight years and had no endowments of any sort. It was proposed to unite it to St. Clement. (fn. 28)

No further mention of the fraternity of the Holy Sepulchre is found after 1130. There was a guild of St. Etheldreda here, and a chantry of St. Mary, founded by William Tuillet, Mayor of Cambridge, in the 13th century. The chantry was served by a brother of St. John's Hospital, which led to a close traditional association of the church with St. John's College. (fn. 29) Another chantry was founded in 1313. (fn. 30)

There is an inventory of church goods for 1278. (fn. 31) The registers begin in 1571; the churchwardens' accounts in 1778.

Holy Trinity.

This church is first mentioned in 1174 when it is said to have been burnt down, but no part of the present fabric goes back to the 12th century. Parts of the tower and chancel are late 13thcentury work; large-scale rebuilding took place in the 14th century; the transepts were added in the 15th century as guild chapels. (fn. 32) In the 17th century the establishment of the town lecturership in this church made it necessary to enlarge the accommodation, and a gallery was erected in 1616 on the north side of the nave, others being later added in the transepts. (fn. 33)

The advowson was given by William of Yarmouth, a Cambridge vintner, to the Premonstratensian canons at West Dereham (Norf.), at some time between 1199 and 1254, (fn. 34) by which last date it was already appropriated, since the Valuation of Norwich refers to the vicars' portion. (fn. 35) At the Dissolution the advowson passed to the Crown, which presented until well into the 17th century. When the Crown failed to present, the Bishop of Ely as diocesan filled the vacancy by sequestration, and in time the living came to be regarded as a perpetual curacy in the bishop's gift. (fn. 36) The patronage of this perpetual curacy was, with the sanction of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, exchanged in 1862 for the rectory of Girton, and the Revd. Alfred Peache became the patron of Holy Trinity. (fn. 37) The patronage is now exercised by the Peache trustees.

In 1217 the church was valued at £1 10s.; in 1254 at £1, the vicarage being rated at 10s.; in 1276 at £8. In 1291 the Abbot of Dereham was rated at 10s. for the rectory. (fn. 38) In 1535 the vicarage was valued at £7 6s. 8d. (fn. 39) In 1650 there was no settled minister nor any maintenance, but a vicarage house worth 40s. a year; the town commissioners proposed to unite it with St. Andrew the Great, better endowed but with a ruinous church. (fn. 40) The benefice was augmented by grants from Queen Anne's Bounty of £200 in 1742, 1751, 1779, and 1792, of £600 in 1811 and of £700 in 1812. In 1864 the patron and the Ecclesiastical Commissioners each added £1,000. (fn. 41)

In the 17th century the Sunday lecturership founded by public subscription (fn. 42) became permanently fixed at Holy Trinity, and was held in succession by John Jeffries (ante 1624), Dr. Preston of Emmanuel (1624–8), and Thomas Goodwin (1628–33), the last being appointed by the Crown to the curacy in 1633. (fn. 43) The widespread influence of the Sunday afternoon lectures of Benjamin Whichcote, the Cambridge Platonist, given at Holy Trinity from 1636 to about 1656, is attested by Tillotson, Shaftesbury, and Wishart. (fn. 44) The customary attendance of the Mayor at the sermon established a special association of the church with the Corporation, which ended in 1756 when it was ordered that the Mayor should appoint his chaplain each year. The lecturership then became in effect an appendage to the vicarage, the election being made by the subscribers and parishioners. (fn. 45) After the appointment of Charles Simeon as curate in 1782 the church became the centre of the Cambridge Evangelical revival associated with his name, although owing to the opposition of the parishioners he did not secure the lecturership until 1794. (fn. 46) Tablets in the church commemorate two of its curates, Henry Martyn and Thomas Thomason, as well as Claudius Buchanan and David Corrie who all went out to India as the Company's chaplains through Simeon's influence. After Simeon's death in 1836 the tradition was carried on by his assistant curate and biographer, William Carus (Vicar 1836–51), and its continuing association with missionary activity and with the Evangelical movement in Cambridge was signalized in 1887 by the erection of the Henry Martyn Hall, of which the Vicar of Holy Trinity is an ex officio trustee. (fn. 47)

There were guilds of the Holy Trinity and of the Assumption in this church in 1389, and of St. Katherine, St. Clement, St. George, and St. Ursula in 1504. (fn. 48) In 1530 when new regulations were made for the election of parish officers there were ten wardens in addition to the two churchwardens; two each for the Sepulchre light, for St. Erasmus's light, the Crucifix light, St. George's light and Our Lady light, the wardens of the last being women. (fn. 49) The churchwardens' accounts, which begin in 1504, make many allusions to St. Erasmus's light; his altar probably stood against the east wall of the south transept. There is also preserved a list of subscribers to the gallery put up in 1616–17, showing that the lecture was attended by the parishioners of eight other Cambridge churches. (fn. 50)

There is an inventory of church goods for 1278. (fn. 51) The church registers begin in 1564. From at least 1402 until the 20th century the church owned property in Cambridge whose income has, since the 16th century at least, been used for general parish purposes, including the maintenance of the church fabric. The property is now sold and represented by over £12,000 in stocks. The income from two 19thcentury legacies of £1,000 each is also used for the repair of the church. (fn. 52)

ST. ANDREW THE GREAT, outside the Barnwell Gate, was presented to Ely by Absolom, son of Algar, the rector and patron between 1225 and 1228. As, however, the Ely registers refer to a John who was chaplain here in 1200, this was perhaps a restitution. It is even possible that St. Andrew was the church that lay in the fourth Domesday ward of the Borough, for that church belonged to Ely. (fn. 53) It was appropriated to the sacrist's office by Bishop Geoffrey (1225–8). (fn. 54) On the Dissolution the advowson passed to the Dean and Chapter of Ely (fn. 55) who were still the patrons in 1955.

The church was valued at £3 6s. 8d. in 1217 and 1254, at £9 6s. 8d. in 1278, at £4 3s. 4d. in 1291, and at £1 15s. in 1535. (fn. 56) In 1650 the parsonage was valued at £10 a year, and the possessor, John Burney of Barnwell, paid the rent to the churchwardens, the dean and chapter being temporarily ousted. There was no minister nor any maintenance for one. The church was in a ruinous state, and it was proposed to unite the living with that of Holy Trinity. (fn. 57) The church was restored shortly afterwards, largely from the contributions of Christopher Rose, Mayor in 1637 and 1654, who founded a commemorative sermon in St. Andrew's and is buried there. (fn. 58) It was completely destroyed in 1842 when the present church was built by subscription. (fn. 59) It contains a monument to Captain Cook, whose widow and two of whose children are buried there. (fn. 60)

There is an inventory of church goods for 1278. (fn. 61) There was a guild of St. Katharine (1385–1500) and two chantries. (fn. 62) The church registers begin in 1635; the churchwardens' accounts in 1650. Sums of £400 and £100 were left for augmentation of the benefice in 1921 and 1936 respectively. (fn. 63)

ST. ANDREW THE LESS is not mentioned in the survey of 1279. It belonged to the Austin Canons of Barnwell, and has long been known as 'the Abbey Church', but it appears to have served as parish church to the straggling suburb along the Newmarket Road even before the Dissolution. The present building belongs to the early 13th century; it may have been erected for the use of the parishioners so that the canons could have the exclusive use of their own church. (fn. 64) It is probably the 'chapel of St. Andrew' mentioned in 1274 as giving sanctuary to a fugitive, (fn. 65) and was valued in 1254 at 12s. and in 1291 at £1. (fn. 66) There were guilds of St. Catharine (1473), St. Mary, and St. Nicholas. (fn. 67)

St. Andrew's was served by one of the Barnwell canons until the Dissolution, when the great tithes passed with the rest of the priory estate to Sir Anthony Brown and later to Lord Clinton, afterwards Earl of Lincoln. (fn. 68) In 1650 the impropriator was Thomas Wendy, and the great tithes were valued at £160. Wendy paid £16 to the minister who served the altar. The town commissioners proposed that the portions of St. Bene't's and Holy Trinity parishes that extended to Barnwell should be joined to St. Andrew's parish and served by Barnwell church. (fn. 69)

After the inclosure of 1807 the population of the parish rose from 252 in 1801 to close on 10,000 in 1841, and the small and decaying church became quite inadequate. Charles Perry, later Bishop of Melbourne, purchased the advowson in 1835 and brought about the building and endowment of Christ Church on the Newmarket Road in 1839, and St. Paul's on Hills Road in 1842, to meet the needs of the parishioners. St. Andrew's, closed in 1846, was restored and reopened in 1856. (fn. 70) J. H. Titcomb, later first Bishop of Rangoon (1877–82), was perpetual curate, 1845–59. (fn. 71) Christ Church has taken the place of St. Andrew the Less as the parish church since 1846. (fn. 72) The patronage is vested in trustees.

ST. BENE'T, architecturally the oldest church in Cambridgeshire, (fn. 73) may well be the earliest foundation of those in the southern part of Cambridge. The fragmentary character of its parish suggests that later ones were carved out of it. Edward of Cambridge and his mother gave the advowson to St. Alban's Abbey in the days of Abbot Paul (fn. 74) (1077– 1093) but in 1279 it belonged to the Argentine family, from whom the Guild of Corpus Christi purchased it in 1350. (fn. 75) Though licensed for appropriation in 1352, it was not until 1578 that the church was actually appropriated to Corpus Christi College, the present patron and rector. (fn. 76)

In 1217 St. Bene't's was valued at £5, in 1254 at £5 6s. 8d., in 1276 at £10, between 1278 and 1303 at £10 6s. 8d., in 1290 at £6 13s. 4d., and in 1534 at £4 9s. 9½d. (fn. 77) The benefice was augmented in 1729 by £200 from Bishop Greene of Ely, and £200 from Queen Anne's Bounty. Further benefactions from Queen Anne's Bounty were of £200 in 1759, £200 in 1810 and £1,000 in 1814. (fn. 78)

There is an inventory of church goods for 1278. (fn. 79) The bells, cast in the 17th century, bear rhymed inscriptions in English and Latin. Fabian Stedman, inventor of the art of change ringing, and author of Campanalogia, or the Art of Ringing Improved (1677), was clerk of the parish in the middle of the 17th century. (fn. 80)

From the time of the foundation of Corpus until 1579 the church served as the college chapel, being connected with the college, at the end of the 15th century, by a narrow gallery. It gave the college its alternative name. By the terms of an agreement of 1273 the church bell was used by the University to convene Congregations in return for an annual fee of 6s. 8d., paid until 1663. The Archdeacon of Ely held his court in the vestry at the eastern end. There were guilds of Corpus Christi, St. Augustine and St. Catharine and a Scala Caeli. (fn. 81) A chapel of St. Anne was licensed in 1487. (fn. 82)

In 1650 it was reported that the acting minister was supported at the charge of the parish, as there was no provision for house or stipend. The town commissioners proposed that St. Benedict should be united to St. Edward, St. Edward being the fitter church, and that the parish should be distributed between St. Botolph and Barnwell (St. Andrew the less). (fn. 83)

Among those buried in the churchyard were John Mere, esquire bedel in the 16th century, and Alderman Samuel Newton, whose diaries are valuable sources for Cambridge history. Fuller, the church historian, was the incumbent from 1630 to 1633 and Thomas Hobson, the carrier, presented the church with a black letter Bible of 1617. (fn. 84)

ST. BOTLPH. The foundation of St. Botolph has been conjecturally assigned to the late 10th or early 11th century, when the cult of the saint was being promoted at Ely, Thorney, and Bury by Aethelwold of Winchester. (fn. 85) When it is first mentioned (c. 1200) the advowson belonged to the Bishop of Ely, which may indicate a foundation by a group of townsmen who later surrendered the patronage to an ecclesiastical authority. It was appropriated to Barnwell Abbey by Bishop Eustace (1198–1215), a 'competent' stipend for a vicar being reserved. (fn. 86) In 1235 Bishop Hugh conferred the vicarage on Peter of Bottisham, chaplain, who was to have the church with all its tithes and income and pay an annual rent of 4 marks to Barnwell, himself bearing all the episcopal burdens. (fn. 87) This became the arrangement for all future vicars. In the early 14th century, three newly founded colleges were looking for churches to serve their needs, and the foundress of Pembroke secured from Barnwell something like an option on St. Botolph's, which she later surrendered to the College of the Annunciation, later Gonville Hall, who, as part of an exchange of properties, made over their rights on 1 June 1353 to the Guild of Corpus Christi. (fn. 88) By royal licence of 5 October 1353 the advowson was transferred to Corpus.

Disputes as to who should pay for repairs to the fabric finally induced the prior and canons to surrender the rectory to the incumbent, Andrew Dockett, c. 1442, and in 1460 Corpus secured a final release from the obligation to pay the annual rent to Barnwell, and on the same day sold the advowson to Queens' College, of which Dockett was now President, for 80 marks, reserving to themselves freedom to use the church for their customary worship. (fn. 89) Since that date, Queen's College have been the patrons. Thus St. Botolph's, alone of all the medieval churches of Cambridge, is a rectory, but, its rector being usually a fellow of Queens' and residing in college, no permanent rectory house has ever been built for the parish. (fn. 90)

In 1217 St. Botolph's was valued at £3 6s. 8d., in 1254 and 1278 at £5 6s. 8d., in 1276 at £9 6s. 8d., in 1291 at £5 6s. 8d., and in 1534 at £2 14s. 4½d. (fn. 91) The rectory was augmented in 1748 by £200 (Queens' College), by £200 in 1737 (Queen Anne's Bounty), in 1749 by £200 (Queen Anne's Bounty), in 1784 by £200 (Trustees of David Hughes), in 1785 by £200 (Queen Anne's Bounty), and in 1814 by £200 (Queen Anne's Bounty). (fn. 92)

In 1650, when there was neither minister, parsonage, nor maintenance, Queens' College was annually receiving £3 15s. 8d. for tithe corn, and 20s. for the rent of a house 'commonly called the parsonage house'. The commissioners proposed that St. Mary the Less should be joined with St. Botolph, 'Buttolph being the fitter Church', and that part of St. Bene't's parish should be united to St. Botolph's parish.

The parish is in two detached portions, extending, as Maitland failed to note, (fn. 93) across the Cam into Newnham, and tithing in the Western as well as the Eastern Fields of the town. The structure goes back to the first quarter of the 14th century, a vestry having been added in 1638, and a number of alterations and additions having been made in the 15th, 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries. (fn. 94) In 1392 a chantry was founded and endowed by Sir John Morice, for the maintenance of which St. John's Hospital was responsible. (fn. 95) The Guild of St. Mary, founded in 1378, was associated with St. James's altar in this church, (fn. 96) which was also used for worship by the Guilds of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Mary. Both the chancel screen (fn. 97) and the complete ring of four bells are of pre-Reformation date. These last came from the foundry of John Danyell of London, and can be dated about 1460. (fn. 98) The church contains monuments to Thomas Playfere (d. 1609) (fn. 99) and to James Essex the architect (d. 1784). (fn. 100)

An afternoon lecture was founded here in 1691 by Bishop Patrick, the lecturer being allowed £30 a year, but was apparently terminated at the Bishop's death in 1707. (fn. 101)

ST. CLEMENT. The dedication of this church suggests Danish influence, but the oldest part of the fabric are late 12th or early 13th century, (fn. 102) and it is first mentioned about 1218. Hugh fitz Absalom, a member of the Le Rus family, gave it to the nuns of St. Radegund about that date, by the advice of Eustace the late Bishop of Ely. The grant was confirmed by Hugh's descendant Walter of St. Edmund 1230–40. (fn. 103) The rectory was appropriated to the nuns by Bishop John of Fountains (1220–5) saving a competence for a priest to have the cure of souls. Bishop Hugh of Northwold decreed that the vicar should pay the nuns a yearly pension of £3 6s. 8d. which was assigned for the nuns' clothing. It appears to have been a bad bargain, leading to disputes as to arrears, and the complaint that the income was tenuis et exilis in 1401. In 1402 the nuns agreed to allow the vicar a dwelling house, but the payment of the pension was exacted until the dissolution of the convent, and even to 1536. (fn. 104) The advowson passed to Jesus College with the other possessions of the nunnery. The church and vicarage together were valued at £4 13s. 4d. in 1254, at £11 6s. 8d. in 1276, and at £4 5s. 8d. in 1535. (fn. 105) In 1650 the parish was reported to have neither minister nor maintenance; it was proposed to unite it with St. Sepulchre and use St. Clement, as the larger church. (fn. 106) The benefice was augmented in 1800 by £200 from the Bishop of Ely, in 1810 by £200 from Jesus College and £300 from Queen Anne's Bounty, and in 1815 by £800 from Parliament. (fn. 107)

It is possible that Dr. Lawrence Chaderton, the first Master of Emmanuel College, who lectured here from 1570 to 1586, like Michael Bentley, who succeeded him, was exercising the Town Lecturership which became associated with Holy Trinity from 1610. (fn. 108) Another lecturership was endowed in this church by Bishop Patrick about 1691, and held by William Whiston, Lucasian Professor, until 1709, when he resigned it on doctrinal grounds. (fn. 109) The tower and spire were erected in 1821 with a bequest from William Cole of Milton who had described it in 1742 as 'the lightest and most airy church and in the best repair that I ever saw for an old one'. (fn. 110) He is commemorated in the inscription over the doorway, Deum Cole, and is buried here.

The church is noteworthy also for the oldest memorial to a Cambridge Mayor. The French inscription on the tombstone of Eudo of Helpringham who died in 1329 during his sixth mayoralty gives an early version of the modern form of the name of the town—'Caunbrege'. (fn. 111)

There were in the church guilds of St. Clement and of Jesus, as well as St. Mary's chantry, founded by Robert Aungier in 1278, and St. Nicholas's Chantry, founded by William de Lolleworth in 1325 and augmented by William Horwood in 1352. (fn. 112) In 1535 the chantries were valued at £7 11s. 8d. (fn. 113) There is an inventory of church goods for the year 1278 (fn. 114) with later additions. The church registers begin in 1560.

ST. EDWARD KING AND MARTYR. An Anglo-Saxon origin for this church is suggested not only by the dedication but by the finding of a Saxon coffin stone on the site in this century, (fn. 115) but the earliest part of the present structure goes back no further than the second half of the 12th century. (fn. 116)

The advowson was granted to Barnwell Priory by Bishop Hugh of Northwold (1229–54) (fn. 117) and was retained by the canons until February 1446. It was then purchased, along with that of St. John Zachary, by Henry VI, who, a month later, bestowed it upon Trinity Hall. In November 1446, when the two parishes were united, St. Edward's was appropriated to Trinity Hall, and the fellows were empowered to employ whom they chose as chaplain without any application to the bishop, to whom they were to pay an annual pension of 20d. (fn. 118) St. Edward's thus became a donative, as it is today.

The destruction of St. John's Church (1446) meant that the scholars both of Clare Hall and Trinity Hall were deprived of their customary place of worship. Each college now added an aisle, or chapel, on either side of the chancel of St. Edward for its particular use; these still bear the names of Clare Hall Aisle and Trinity Hall Aisle. (fn. 119) The church contained chapels of St. John the Evangelist and of St. Mary. There was a guild of St. Edward the King and St. Thomas the Martyr, founded probably about 1291, and served by two chaplains. (fn. 120)

St. Edward's was valued at £2 13s. 4d. in 1217, at £2 in 1254, at £6 13s. 4d. in 1276 and at £2 13s. 4d. in 1291, when the pension of the Prior of Barnwell was further valued at 13s. 4d. (fn. 121) In 1650 there was neither minister, maintenance, nor parsonage but Trinity Hall received £8 a year as rent for a house once known as the Vicarage House, and had usually provided a minister and kept the chancel in repair. The commissioners proposed that St. Bene't and St. Edward should be united, St. Edward being the fitter church. (fn. 122)

The church is notable for the sermons preached there in the early years of the Reformation by the three Protestant martyrs, Bilney, Barnes, and Latimer. Amongst those buried here were Edward Lively and Richard Thompson, two of the translators of the Authorized Version of the Bible; John Mortlock, (fn. 123) and his grandfather, who was churchwarden here. There is a memorial to F. D. Maurice, whose chaplaincy here from 1871–2 was his last charge. (fn. 124) The church is today the Cambridge centre of Toc H.

There is an inventory of church goods for 1278 with notes of further gifts in the 14th century. (fn. 125) The chalice in use dates from 1569 and the flagon and paten from 1711. Of the six bells the oldest belongs to the last quarter of the 15th century, the second, cast by Stephen Tonni of Bury St. Edmunds, is dated 1576, the third, cast in 1622, bears the inscription 'non clamor sed amor cantat in aure Dei', and the ring was completed by the recasting of two and the addition of a treble in 1669. They have not been rehung since that date. (fn. 126)

The Registers begin in 1558 and the churchwardens' accounts in 1640.

From at least the 17th century the parish owned land which was sold in 1914 for £1,570, the income of which is spent on the maintenance of the church building. In 1948 the income on about £5,760 stock was applicable under a legacy of 1902 to the augmentation of the benefice. (fn. 127)

ST. GILES. St. Giles' Church contains traces of work that may be earlier than 1092, (fn. 128) the traditional date of its foundation by Picot in fulfilment of his wife's vow. (fn. 129) Its fabric was extensively remodelled in the early 19th century by the vicar, Professor William Farish, who enlarged the accommodation from 100 to 600 seats. (fn. 130) The resulting 'strange and repulsive medley' (fn. 131) was in its turn destroyed in 1875, when the present church was built, in which the only traces of the original church are the 11th-century chancel arch, and the 12th-century south doorway of the nave. (fn. 132)

The advowson, lost by Barnwell through negligence or unlawful seizure, was restored to the priory by Bishop Longchamp of Ely (1189–96) and appropriated to maintain the infirmary. (fn. 133) It remained with Barnwell until the Dissolution.

Both rectory and advowson were granted by the Crown to the Bishop of Ely and his successors in 1562, as part of the exchanges imposed on Bishop Cox by Elizabeth I. (fn. 134) The church was valued at £3 6s. 8d. in 1217 and 1254, at £5 6s. 8d. in 1276 and at £6 13s. 4d. in 1291. (fn. 135) It was described by the commissioners of 1650 as 'an impropriate parsonage worth £120 per annum, John Rouse Esquire as lessee for lives to the late Bishop of Ely being the impropriator and possessor thereof, . . . he living remote from thence in the County of Suffolk'. The commissioners recommended that St. Peter should be united with St. Giles. (fn. 136) The benefice was augmented by £200 in 1792 by Queen Anne's Bounty. (fn. 137)

There is an inventory of church goods for 1278. (fn. 138) There was a guild of St. Giles in the church. (fn. 139) The register of baptisms begins in 1596, those of marriages and burials in 1607, the churchwardens' accounts in 1620.

ST. JOHN ZACHARY. The church of St. John Baptist, commonly called St. John Zachary, is first mentioned in the taxation of 1217. It stood on the west side of Milne Street and served a parish originally containing many dwelling-houses which were gradually taken over (fn. 140) by religious houses and University hostels, which, in their turn, were destroyed to make room for King's College. The site of its east end is today covered by the western bays of King's College Chapel. Besides being the parish church it served as a chapel for the scholars of Clare Hall and of Trinity Hall. (fn. 141) In 1445 Henry VI acquired both the church and the churchyard, along with the adjoining lands. The church was probably destroyed soon after 25 July 1446, when the first stone of King's College Chapel was laid. (fn. 142) By 1453 it had been rebuilt at the charges of Henry VI at the north-west corner of the Old Court of King's College, on a site now occupied in part by the departmental libraries of the University. This second edifice is last mentioned in 1488–9; it was presumably allowed to fall into decay since by that time the parish no longer existed, (fn. 143) and its site was used for King's College buildings. (fn. 144)

The advowson, like that of St. Clement's, belonged to the Fitz Absalom or le Rus family. At some date before 1220 Hugh Fitz Absalom gave it to Barnwell Priory. (fn. 145) In February 1446 Henry VI purchased it from Barnwell along with that of St. Edward's, and the union of the two parishes was approved by the Bishop of Ely in the following November. (fn. 146) The advowson of the united parish was granted to Trinity Hall; whilst that of the new church of St. John, built in 1453, was granted to King's College. (fn. 147)

The church was valued at £3 in 1217, £2 10s. in 1254, and at £6 in 1276. (fn. 148) In 1291 the vicarage was valued at £2 13s. 4d. and the Prior of Barnwell's portion at £1. (fn. 149) There is an inventory of church goods for 1278 and further details of its plenishings in 1453. (fn. 150)

ST. MARY THE GREAT. The Church of St. Mary the Virgin, by the Market, known after 1352 as Great St. Mary's and commonly called the University Church, was the only church whose patronage was in the Crown in 1279. It is first mentioned in 1205, when King John presented Thomas de Chimeleye to the rectory, and Gervase, his chaplain, to the vicarage for life. (fn. 151) A number of subsequent references to incumbents of the rectory indicate that the advowson remained in the Crown. (fn. 152) The notable diplomatic official, Elias de Joneston, keeper of the processes of Aquitaine from 1306 to 1336, (fn. 153) was presented in February 1324. He is said to have exchanged it for the benefice of Bexwell (Norf.) in 1330, (fn. 154) but he was still Rector of St. Mary's in 1338, when he appointed a proctor to receive the offerings and fruits of the church and let it to farm. (fn. 155) The last presentation was made by the Crown in 1341; (fn. 156) on 15 July 1342 Edward III granted the advowson to his new foundation of King's Hall, with licence to appropriate. (fn. 157) In 1546 the advowson and rectory passed with the other possessions of King's Hall to Trinity College, which still owns them. (fn. 158)

The church was valued at £6 13s. 4d. in 1217, at £8 in 1254, at £10 in 1260, at £12 in 1276, and at £4 6s. 8d. in 1291. (fn. 159) In 1279 fifteen several rents amounting altogether to £1 5s. 1d. were payable to the church from town properties, four being appropriated to the maintenance of lights, and two to the chaplain of St. Mary's Chantry. (fn. 160) The chantry was valued at £10 6s. 5d. in 1535. (fn. 161)

In 1650 the church had no minister or parsonage, nor could the parishioners estimate its value, but the commissioners conceived it fit that it should 'remayne sole, as it is, in respect as the University hath been and is permitted to exercise there'. (fn. 162)

The use of the church for University functions was established from an early date. Bachelors incepting in divinity preached there; Congregations were held there until the Schools were built in 1400; University documents were stored there; disputations were held and degrees conferred there down to the building of the Senate House in 1730. (fn. 163) It was also used until the beginning of the 20th century for sessions of the bishop's consistory court. (fn. 164) Convocation sat there during the Parliament of 1388. (fn. 165) Conferences between town and gown took place there, and the Black Assembly was held there annually. (fn. 166) It was the connexion with the University which led to St. Mary's being ransacked by the rioters in 1381.

In 1574 the town officers were elected in the church, probably on account of the plague being near the Guildhall. (fn. 167) In 1624 it was ordered in Common Day that the Mayor and Aldermen should attend sermons there monthly, absentees to be fined. (fn. 168)

St. Mary's was completely rebuilt between 1478 and 1519, University meetings being held for the time being in the churches of the Austin or Grey Friars. Subscription lists are extant and include the names of Richard III and Henry VII, but most of the funds came from the University. (fn. 169) The contract also survives for the building of the magnificent rood loft in 1522–3, the scale of which was made possible by the great height of the new nave. (fn. 170) The loft was demolished in 1562 by Parker's orders. (fn. 171) The tower, the first stone of which was laid in 1491, was completed as far as the belfry in 1596, when the parish books record that 'this year all our bells are rung out and was never before' [sic]. (fn. 172) The corner turrets were completed in 1608, (fn. 173) when John Warren, churchwarden and acting clerk of the works, was killed in an accident. An inscription on the tower wall, copied from his former monument, records:
Here John Warren sleeps among the dead, Who with the church his own life finished. (fn. 174)

The report sent to Laud as to the use made of the church in 1636 gives a vivid picture of its interior at that date, serving as a 'lumberhouse' between commencements and 'blinded up' by shops. (fn. 175) In 1640, chiefly owing to the efforts of Cosin, then Master of Peterhouse, a new chancel screen was erected, (fn. 176) seen and described by Cole before it was destroyed in 1754 to make room for the gallery over the chancel known as the Throne, or Golgotha. (fn. 177) The building of galleries to accommodate the listeners to University sermons had begun in 1610 with a gallery for the doctors which was pulled down seven years later by order of James I. (fn. 178) In 1736 the galleries over the aisles were built, under James Gibb's directions, to accommodate undergraduates and bachelors, a legacy for their erection and maintenance having been left by William Worts in 1709. (fn. 179) James Essex directed the building of the Throne in 1754, (fn. 180) and William Wilkins designed the west gallery, erected in 1819. Both Throne and west gallery were taken down in 1863, (fn. 181) but the aisle galleries remain, supplying over 400 of the 1,700 seats which the church affords today.

There are inventories of church goods not only for 1278 (fn. 182) but for 1504, 1508, 1514 and a number of years between 1550 and 1635. (fn. 183) The churchwardens' accounts, which begin in 1504, have been printed down to 1635. (fn. 184)

The five bells hung in 1596 were originally intended to be chimed every four hours, but it was not until 1671 that chimes were installed, (fn. 185) perhaps in connexion with the visit of Charles II. (fn. 186) When, in 1722–3, the bells were recast (for the fourth time) and increased from eight to ten the chimes were replaced by change-ringing, and the society of bellringers was founded. (fn. 187) The quarter-hour chimes now sounded from St. Mary were composed and installed in 1793 by Joseph Jowett of Trinity Hall, Professor of Civil Law. He may have been assisted by William Crotch, a former pupil of the organist of St. Mary. Having been copied at the new Houses of Parliament in 1859, the Cambridge chimes have been widely adopted by the name of the Westminster Quarters. (fn. 188) Since 1769 the bells have numbered twelve; they are considered perhaps the finest toned in the eastern counties.

A circular disc on the tower of St. Mary's marks the datum point from which, since 1732, the mile distances from Cambridge have been measured. (fn. 189) Dr. John Hatcher (d. 1587) left money for the repair of the clock which he had given to be put up on the steeple. This later became absorbed in what was the church estate, the income on which was nearly £15 in 1849 and was payable to general church purposes. (fn. 190)

ST. MARY THE LESS, formerly ST. PETER OUTSIDE TRUMPINGTON GATES. Of the sixteen medieval parish churches of Cambridge, seven, namely St. Michael, St. John, St. Clement, All Saints by the Castle, All Saints in the Jewry, Holy Trinity, and St. Peter, seem to have had Cambridge townsmen as their first patrons. The history of St. Peter supplies the instance of a church reported to be served by the founder and his kin. In 1207 a jury found that one Langlin had held the church and had been its parson, and had given it to his kinsman Segar 'secundum quod tunc fuit mos civitatis Cantebr'; that Segar had held it and served it for 60 years, and then given it to his son Henry, who was parson there for a like term, and that Henry gave it to St. John's Hospital, apparently about 1197. (fn. 191) This would, if correct, carry the beginnings of the church back to before Domesday. The church was appropriated to the hospital by Bishop Eustace (1198–1215). (fn. 192) Bishop Hugh of Balsham transferred both church and appropriation to his new foundation, Peterhouse, in 1286, empowering the scholars to serve the church by a parochial chaplain. Disputes between the college and the hospital as to the advowson were finally settled in favour of the college by the award of Bishop Simon de Montacute in 1339– 40. St. Mary's was used as a chapel by Peterhouse until the consecration of the present chapel in 1632. (fn. 193)

In 1217 the church was valued at £3, in 1254 at £4, in 1276 at £6 13s. 4d. and in 1291 at £7. (fn. 194) In 1650 it was reported that the tithes of parsonage and vicarage were worth £17 a year and were paid to Peterhouse, which provided a preacher. The commissioners proposed that St. Mary the Less should be united to St. Botolph. (fn. 195) The benefice was augmented in 1815 by the grant of £1,200 from Queen Anne's Bounty.

By 1340 the church was old and ruinous and the scholars were worshipping in the college. By 1352 it had been entirely rebuilt, on an extended site, and it was rededicated to the Virgin Mary. It was apparently intended to use the present church as a chancel for the scholars' use, but if so the projected nave was never built. (fn. 196) Consistory courts were held in the church by the bishop's official in 1384 and 1386. (fn. 197) Two chantry chapels to the north and south were added in the 14th and 15th centuries by two Masters of Peterhouse, two earlier chantries having been founded in the 14th century. (fn. 198) In 1535 an unnamed chantry in the church was valued at £2 5s. 2½d. (fn. 199) There is an inventory of church goods for 1278. (fn. 200) There was a guild of St. Mary in the church. The registers begin in 1557.

The church estate probably existed by the 17th century; the property it comprised was sold in 1920 and is now represented by £2,100 stock the income on which is applicable to general church purposes. (fn. 201)

ST. MICHAEL. The first reference to St. Michael's appears to be the record of a plea as to its advowson held in the year 1231. Ives Pipestraw, who contributed to the tallage of 1211, had last presented to the church of St. Michael, and there was a dispute over the descent of the patronage between his nephew, Walter Fitz Absalom, and his greatnephew, John. (fn. 202) The Hundred Rolls of 1279 carry the history of the patronage back to Ives's father Reynold and on to Ives's great niece, Maud de Walda, (fn. 203) who was apparently intending in 1292 to bestow it on the University, as an inquest ad quod damnum was ordered to determine whether she could do so. (fn. 204) The advowson was, however, still in private hands in 1323, when Harvey of Stanton acquired it from Dera, relict of Robert of Madingley, (fn. 205) for the use of the scholars of his new college, which took the name of Michaelhouse from the church. The appropriation to the college followed eighteen months later. (fn. 206) Advowson and rectory passed with the other possessions of Michaelhouse in 1546 to Trinity College, still the patrons. In 1550 it was proposed to unite part of the parish to Great St. Mary and the other part to All Saints, but nothing came of it. In 1650 it had neither minister nor maintenance, and it was proposed to unite it with All Saints. (fn. 207)

The original church was rebuilt from its foundation by Hervey of Stanton and has been little altered since, though it was thoroughly repaired and restored after a fire in 1849. The south aisle was used by Michaelhouse and the north aisle by Gonville Hall. There were altars to St. Gregory and Our Lady. (fn. 208) The church contains the remains of the tomb of the founder, whose bones were discovered in 1804. (fn. 209) Fagius, the Hebrew scholar, was buried here in 1549, which led to the church's being laid under an interdict in 1557. His remains were then disinterred and burnt in the market place with those of Martin Bucer. (fn. 210)

The church was valued at £4 in 1217, £1 6s. 8d. in 1254, and £7 6s. 8d. in 1276. (fn. 211) The benefice was augmented by sums of £200 granted by Queen Anne's Bounty in 1757, 1784, 1789, and 1793. (fn. 212) In 1908 the vicarage was united with that of St. Mary the Great, also a Trinity living. (fn. 213) The registers begin in 1538; the churchwardens' accounts in 1583.

ST. PETER BY THE CASTLE, or BEYOND THE BRIDGE. This little church measuring 15 by 35 feet, and used today only for children's services, is the remnant of one that went back to the 12th century, and consisted of a nave, chancel, south aisle, and west tower and spire. The aisle had already been destroyed when Cole sketched and described the church in 1742. (fn. 214) The church ceased to be used in 1749 and was roofless and windowless by 1772. In 1780 there was talk of using its fabric for roadmending, (fn. 215) but in 1781 it was rebuilt, under a brief, on a reduced scale, largely from the old material, including, it is believed, some Roman bricks. The south doorway and the bowl of the font, both of the late Norman period, survive from the old church. (fn. 216)

St. Peter's is first mentioned in the valuation of the diocese of Ely for the papal 20th of 1217 (fn. 217) when it was valued at £2 13s. 4d. (fn. 218) In 1254 when the church was valued at 20s., the advowson belonged to the canons of Barnwell, to whom the church had presumably been appropriated. (fn. 219) In 1276 it was valued at £4. (fn. 220) At the Dissolution the advowson came to the Crown, and Elizabeth I granted it to the See of Ely. (fn. 221)

Under a commission dated 1349 the church was dedicated to St. Peter and St. Paul. (fn. 222) The Guild of St. Peter and St. Paul was held in it, (fn. 223) and chapels of St. Mary and St. Saviour are also mentioned.

In 1650 the town commissioners found that the parish had neither parsonage nor vicarage, though the parishioners were finding £5 a year for a preacher. They recommended that it should be united with St. Giles'. (fn. 224) Though it has now been annexed to the vicarage of St. Giles for several hundred years, the two parishes are not merged and each elects its own officers. There is an inventory of goods for 1278. (fn. 225) The registers begin in 1586.

Modern Parish Churches.

The growth of population in 19th- and 20th-century Cambridge has caused the addition of new churches and the creation of new ecclesiastical parishes. In the old parish of St. Andrew the Less: CHRIST CHURCH, Newmarket Road, built 1839, architect Ambrose Poynter, became the parish church 1846, patron trustees; ST. PAUL, Hills Road, built 1842 through the efforts of Charles Perry, the first vicar; (fn. 226) architect Ambrose Poynter, distinct parish in 1845, patron Church Trust Fund; ST. MATTHEW, near East Road, built 1866, architect R. R. Rowe, distinct parish 1870; patron Vicar of St. Andrew the Less; ST. BARNABAS, Mill Road, built 1869–88, architect William Smith, distinct parish 1888, patron Vicar of St. Paul. Will proved 1919 left £2,000 in trust for the benefice and parish work; ST. PHILIP, Mill Road, built 1891 by William Wade of St. Neots, distinct parish 1902, patron Perry Trustees. £2,000 left to endowment in 1919; ST. JOHN mission church, Wellington Street, built 1874, closed between 1933 and 1950.

In St. Giles' parish: ST. MARK, Barton Road, built 1901, patron Diocesan Board of Patronage; £100 left in 1936 with income to augment living.

In Chesterton parish: ST. LUKE, Victoria Road, built 1874, architect William Smith, distinct parish 1876, patron the Bishop of Ely; ST. GEORGE, Chesterfield Road, built c. 1937, architect T. H. Lyon, distinct parish 1939; patron the Bishop of Ely.

In Cherry Hinton parish: ST. JOHN THE EVANGELIST, Hills Road, built 1896, architects Gordon, Lowthers and Gunton, distinct parish, 1897, patron the Bishop of Ely; ST. STEPHEN, Coldham's Lane, church district 1948, patron Church Trust Fund.