Church of St Cyriac and St Julitta, Swaffham Prior facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Church of St Cyriac and St Julitta, Swaffham Prior |
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The tower of the Church of St Cyriac and St Julitta, Swaffham Prior
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| OS grid reference | TL 568 639 |
| Location | Swaffham Prior, Cambridgeshire |
| Country | England |
| Denomination | Anglican |
| Website | Churches Conservation Trust |
| History | |
| Dedication | Saints Cyriac and Julitta |
| Architecture | |
| Functional status | Redundant |
| Heritage designation | Grade II* |
| Designated | 19 August 1959 |
| Architect(s) | Charles Humfrey |
| Architectural type | Church |
| Style | Gothic, Gothic Revival |
| Specifications | |
| Materials | Tower in flint and clunch with limestone dressings Body in gault brick with stone dressings Roof slated |
The Church of St Cyriac and St Julitta is an old Anglican church in Swaffham Prior, Cambridgeshire, England. It is no longer used for regular church services. This church is a very important historical building, listed as Grade II*. A special group called the Churches Conservation Trust looks after it. The church stands on a small hill above the village street, about 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) northeast of Cambridge. It is very close to another church, the Church of St Mary, and they both share the same churchyard.
Contents
History of St Cyriac and St Julitta
How the Churches Began
This church is named after two saints, Cyriac and Julitta. Julitta was the mother of Cyriac. Both this church and the nearby Church of St Mary were built around the early 1200s. At first, they were separate churches, each with its own parish. But in 1667, they joined together to become one parish.
Challenges and Repairs
In 1743, the main parts of St Cyriac's church, the nave (where people sit) and the chancel (near the altar), were repaired. However, by 1783, the church was falling apart. Services then moved to St Mary's church. By the 1790s, St Cyriac's roof was collapsing, and ivy was growing all over it.
Meanwhile, in 1779, lightning struck the tower of St Mary's. In 1802, while builders were fixing St Mary's tower, part of it fell down. Because of all these problems, people decided to pull down most of St Cyriac's church, keeping only its tower, and then rebuild it.
Rebuilding and New Uses
Work on St Cyriac's began in 1806. The designs were made by Charles Humfrey from Cambridge. The repairs cost more than £3,100, which was a lot of money back then! The church was opened again in 1809 after being fixed up.
Later, towards the end of the 1800s, St Mary's church was also repaired. St Mary's reopened in 1903 and became the only church used for regular services in the parish. St Cyriac's church was left to decay again. By the 1960s, its ceiling was falling in. Its tower was repaired in 1959–60. In 1974, a group that helps old churches, now called the Churches Conservation Trust, spent £10,000 to fix the rest of the church.
Since then, St Cyriac's has been used for special events like art shows and music concerts. Since 2017, it has also been part of a program called 'champing'. This means you can camp overnight inside the church, which is a unique experience!
Church Architecture
Building Materials and Design
The tower of the church is built from a soft white stone called clunch and flint stones. It also has limestone details. The rest of the church is made from a type of brick called gault brick with stone decorations. The roof is covered with slate tiles.
The church's layout includes a main area called the nave with three sections. It has side parts called aisles on the north and south. There are also transepts, which are like arms sticking out on the north and south sides. At the east end is the chancel, and at the west end is the tower.
The Tower and Bells
The tower has three main levels or "stages" and strong supports called buttresses. The bottom two levels are square, but the very top level is shaped like an octagon (an eight-sided shape). There is a staircase in the northeast corner of the tower. The bottom of the tower has a raised base called a plinth, decorated with a checkerboard pattern of brick and stone.
At the bottom of the tower, on the west side, there is a doorway. Above this door is a window with three sections. The top level of the tower has two-section windows on each of its eight sides, where the bells are. The top edge of the tower, called the parapet, has decorative patterns.
Inside the west end of the church, there is a gallery. The church has a set of six bells, all made in 1791. Even though St Mary's church also has a beautiful old tower, only St Cyriac's tower has bells. These bells are still rung every Sunday for services at St Mary's. However, as of February 2019, the biggest bell (called the tenor bell) cannot be rung right now.
