Church of St Mary the Virgin, Gamlingay facts for kids
The Church of St Mary the Virgin is a historic church in the village of Gamlingay, Cambridgeshire. It is dedicated to St Mary the Virgin. This church is part of a larger church area that includes nearby villages like Hatley St George and East Hatley. Most of the church was built in the 1200s, with many changes and additions made in the 1300s and 1400s. Since 1967, it has been a Grade I listed building, which means it's a very important historical building. A famous expert named Nikolaus Pevsner once said in 1954 that it was "the most impressive church in this part of the county."
Contents
What the Church Looks Like
Even though there was a church here before 1120, the building you see today dates back to the 1200s. This includes parts like the main hall (called the nave) and the area around the altar (the chancel). St Mary's church is built in the Early English style. It has a square tower made from local stones, which now holds eight bells.
The tower was first built in the 1200s but was largely rebuilt in the 1300s and 1400s. It has a special top part with a jagged edge, called an embattled parapet. Look closely, and you'll see gargoyles above each tower window! Inside the church, there's a hidden doorway that leads to a spiral staircase up to the bells.
The Vestry and Chancel
The vestry, a room used by the clergy, was rebuilt in the 1880s. The table in the vestry is quite unusual. People think it might have been the "sounding board" from an older pulpit. A sounding board is a canopy that used to hang over a pulpit to help the preacher's voice carry better.
The chancel, the part of the church where the altar is, mostly looks like it did in the 1200s. However, many details were added around 1442–43. Back then, Merton College, Oxford, which helped support the church, spent money on repairs. Other parts of the church, like the chapels on the north and south sides, were also updated in the 1400s.
Later Changes and Features
In the 1800s, the church had a big restoration in 1880. During this time, the vestry and the south porch were rebuilt. You can still see some interesting features from different times. For example, the chancel has some funny-looking gargoyles carved into the stone. There's also a special opening in the wall of the nave, called a squint, which allowed people to see the altar from other parts of the church.
The roofs of the church's main areas and chapels are from the late medieval period. The chancel roof is newer, but it rests on eight carvings from the 1400s. These carvings look like half-angels holding shields.
Outside the church, near the west door, there's a stoup, which is a basin for holy water. You can also find a sundial on the south wall of the chancel. In the churchyard, there are remains of a medieval cross. This cross was used for outdoor sermons. Sadly, it was destroyed in 1643 by a Puritan named William Dowsing because he thought it was wrong to have such images.
Inside the Church: Fittings and Furniture
The rood screen is a tall, decorative screen that separates the nave from the chancel. Most of it is from the late medieval period. It has five sections, with the middle one being the entrance. You can still see traces of its original medieval paint colors: red, green, cream, and gold! In the past, there would have been a small spiral staircase leading to the top of the screen, but it was blocked up during the English Reformation.
The seats in the chancel, called stalls, are believed to have been brought from another place. They were moved to their current spot during the 1880 restoration. People think these seats might have been for the six priests who lived in the village in 1490. Look closely at the carvings on the seats! On the north side, you might see a mitred priest, an animal, and a bird. On the south side, there's an angel, a winged beast, and other figures. The two seats near the entrance even have special carvings underneath, called misericords, which were supports for standing during long services.
The church has six bells. Some of them, from 1653, were made by a bell founder named Miles Graye. The bell frame itself might be from around 1490.
You can also find several brass indents in the church. These are outlines left in stone slabs where brass plaques once were. They show where important people, like a cleric or a man and his wife, were buried in the 1400s and 1500s.
The baptismal font, where baptisms take place, is from the 1200s. It has an eight-sided bowl made of limestone marble. Its base might even include parts of an older font that was used in the very first church on this site! The font's cover is also very old, probably from the 1500s.
In the south chapel, some of the stained glass in the top of the east window has small pieces from the 1400s to 1600s. These include tiny shields with the family crest of Fitzjames. There's also a medieval locker in the south aisle, which was likely used to store poles for banners used in church parades and ceremonies. This shows that the community was very active and had many groups and charities.
Memorials and Old Markings
Inside the church, you'll find various monuments and ledger stones (flat stone slabs on the floor) that remember people who lived in Gamlingay long ago. In the chancel, there's a wall monument for Ann Say from 1793. In the south aisle, you can see colorful wall monuments for Ralph Lane (died 1732) and his wife Elizabeth (died 1754), and their daughter Elizabeth Lane (died 1717). There's also a small painted wooden panel for Phillip Burton from 1683.
Many ledger stones are on the floor, remembering people like Dixie Windsor (died 1743), Thomas Sclater (died 1696), and William Meadston (died 1683). These stones often have family crests carved into them.
Ancient Graffiti
The church walls have a lot of graffiti from different time periods! On one of the pillars in the north part of the nave, someone scratched in Latin, "hic est sedes Margarete Tayl . . d" which means "this is the seat of Margaret Taylard." Margaret was likely the wife of Walter Taylard, who helped rebuild the chapel nearby.
On another pillar, you can find a drawing that might be medieval, showing three small houses, perhaps along a street. On a pillar in the south part of the nave, someone scratched in Latin, "mors cõparat / umbre que / semper / sequitur / corpus," which means "death compares to the shadow that always follows the body."
On the wall near the west window of the tower, someone from the 1500s wrote "Th[om]as [?Jek]yll Clar[ke] of Ga[m]ly[n]gaye," which likely refers to Thomas Jekyll, a clerk from Gamlingay. These old markings give us a glimpse into the lives of people who visited the church centuries ago!
Images for kids
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The seats in the chancel date to about 1442
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The seats in the chancel date to about 1442
