St Mary Magdalene Church, Ickleton facts for kids
St Mary Magdalene Church is a special old church in the village of Ickleton, Cambridgeshire, England. It's so important that it's a 'Grade I listed building'. This means it's one of the most historic buildings in the country. It's part of a group of churches that work together, including St Peter's in Duxford and St Mary and St John in Hinxton.
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History of the Church
This church is dedicated to Mary Magdalene. It was built a very long time ago, in the early Norman period. It's made from rough stones and flint, with special smooth stones from Barnack. It was first named after St Mary the Virgin. Later, it was renamed after St Mary Magdalene, who was the patron saint of a nearby priory (a type of monastery). A famous expert named Nicholas Pevsner said the inside of the church, with its Norman style, is truly amazing. He thought it was one of the best in England and not enough people knew about it!
How the Church Was Built
The church was built in the late 1000s or early 1100s. It had a main area called the nave, a chancel (where the altar is), and a tower in the middle. The nave had a clerestory (upper windows) and a round-arched west door. It also had aisles on the north and south sides.
The nave had four round arches connecting it to each aisle. Some of the columns holding up these arches were actually Roman ones! They were carved from a single stone. The other columns were Norman copies of these Roman designs. Most of these original Norman parts are still there, even after the church was made bigger later on.
Old Paintings and Changes
In the late 1100s, beautiful frescoes (wall paintings) were added in the nave. They were painted in two rows above the arches. Four paintings show scenes from Christ's Passion. Three others show the deaths of St Peter, St Andrew, and St Lawrence.
In the 1200s, the arches under the central tower were changed. They became pointed, in the Early English Gothic style. The church also has a south transept (a part that sticks out like an arm of a cross). We don't know exactly when it was built. There used to be a north transept too, making the church shaped like a cross. But it was taken down at some point. You can still see where its arch used to be.
Decorated Style and More Changes
A lot of work was done in the early 1300s, in the Decorated Gothic style. The tower was made taller around 1340. The south aisle was rebuilt and made wider. A beautiful south porch with a ribbed ceiling was added. New windows were put into the south transept. The arch between the transept and the south aisle was also rebuilt.
The font, where baptisms happen, might also be from the 1300s. The nave's upper windows (clerestory) were made taller and given a new roof. A pointed roof called a broach spire was added to the tower. Some 1300s stained glass can still be seen in the south aisle windows. There's also a wall painting from the 1300s above the chancel arch. It shows the "Doom" with Christ and the Virgin Mary. The church was rededicated in 1351, which might be when this building work finished.
Later Additions
In the mid-1400s, the chancel was rebuilt. A Perpendicular Gothic north chapel and a vestry (a room for clergy) were added. The west windows of the nave and north aisle are also in this Perpendicular Gothic style. The church got new wooden furniture, including a rood screen, new pews, and stalls. The carved ends of two pews, called poppyheads, are still original. The church was rededicated again in 1452.
In the 1700s, some parts were rebuilt. By 1791, the north chapel, vestry, and transept had been taken down. By 1877, the churchyard was too small for burials. So, in 1883, a new cemetery and funeral chapel were opened nearby. This chapel is a Gothic Revival building with tall, narrow windows.
In 1882–85, the chancel was rebuilt again. It kept a 15th-century piscina (a basin for washing sacred vessels). The roof of the south transept was damaged by fire in 1979 and has been replaced. It was during the cleaning after this fire that the amazing 12th-century frescoes were found in the nave! They had been painted over for hundreds of years, probably since the Reformation in the 1500s.
Church Bells
After a nearby monastery, Ickleton Priory, was closed down, records show the church tower had three bells. In 1552, during a time of big changes in the church, it had four bells and a small Sanctus bell. By 1742, the tower had a set of six bells for change ringing, and two Sanctus bells were unusually placed on the outside of the spire.
A lot of work was done on the bells in the 1700s. Thomas Newman, a bell maker, cast two of the bells in 1729. Thomas Lester from the famous Whitechapel Bell Foundry cast the largest bell (the tenor) in 1751. William Chapman, also from Whitechapel, cast another bell in 1781.
By the late 1800s, there was only one Sanctus bell left on the outside of the spire. It was made around 1500 by a bell maker whose name we don't know. This bell was used to ring for curfew or fires. Later, it was connected to the church clock to chime the hours.
The six main bells were repaired in 1907. But within 20 years, their frame broke, and the largest bell fell and cracked. In 1927, Gillett & Johnston of Croydon, Surrey, recast all six bells. They also added two new bells, making a total of eight bells in the tower.
