St Mary and St Andrew, Whittlesford, Cambridgeshire

I Location

Site Location: Whittlesford
National Grid Reference: TL 474 485
County: traditional: Cambridgeshire
now: Cambridgeshire
Diocese: medieval: not confirmed
now: Ely
Dedication: medieval: not confirmed
now (or name of monument): St Mary and St Andrew
Type of building/monument: Parish church

II General Description

: Exterior general view from S

12thc. nave and crossing tower, and 13thc. chancel. A S aisle was added to the nave in the 13thc., then in the 15thc. Henry Cyprian's chantry chapel was added to the S of the chancel, contiguous with the S nave arcade. The crossing arches to E and W are also 15thc., but there is evidence of the 12thc. E arch surviving (see below). The top stage of the tower is Perpendicular, and it has a small lead spike. Construction is of flint and pebble with brick repairs. There are 12thc. windows in the N and S faces of the tower, and another in the N wall of the nave. Romanesque features treated here are the font, a tower window carved with a sheela-na-gig, and chevron voussoirs reset outside the chantry chapel.

III Exterior Features

2. Windows

(i) S face of tower, lower storey.

: Tower, S face window

: Tower, S face, detail of window head

Round-headed window with a large, irregular head made up of two stones, carved in shallow relief. The single scene shows, on the L a squatting female exhibitionist, approached from the R by a human-headed beast with an elongated body and prominent genitals.

3. Exterior Decoration

d. Miscellaneous

: Chancel aisle E wall, general view

Reset in the exterior E wall of the chantry chapel, four chevron voussoirs as follows:

(i) Chevron voussoir

: Chancel aisle E wall, reset voussoir 1

On buttress close to angle with E chantry wall. Centrifugal chevron voussoir carved with a single angle roll with a double quirk and cogwheel edge.

Dimensions

l. of voussoir	0.23 m
max. w.	0.13 m
min. w.	0.11 m

(ii) Chevron voussoir

: Chancel aisle E wall, reset voussoirs 2 and 3

On buttress close to angle with E chantry wall, below (i), chevron voussoir of same design.

Dimensions

l. of voussoir	0.25 m
max. w.	0.15 m
min. w.	0.135 m

(iii) Chevron voussoir

Alongside (ii) but on chantry wall itself, chevron voussoir of same design.

Dimensions

l. of voussoir	0.26 m
max. w.	0.18 m
min. w.	0.175 m

(iv) Chevron voussoir

: Chancel aisle E wall, reset voussoir 4

High on chantry wall, towards N end, chevron voussoir of same design. Too high to measure.

IV Interior Features

1. Arches

b. Tower/Transept arches

: View into crossing and chancel arch from W

: E crossing arch, W face, S jamb impost

: E crossing arch, W face, N jamb impost

(i) Tower arches

The E tower arch is now 15thc., but on its W face are the chamfered imposts of the 12thc. arch, at the level of the present S tower arch capitals. Each has a pair of trilobed leaves on the upright.

V Furnishings

1. Fonts

(i)

: Font, general view from NE

: Font, detail of support

At W end of S nave aisle, a square bowl on five supports. Those at the angles are modern but the central shaft is supported on an inverted cushion capital with angle tucks. The bowl has angle rolls around the upper rim and down each angle. The inner bowl is circular with a chamfered edge and lead lined below the chamfer.

Dimensions

h. of bowl	0.42 m
ext. w. (N-S)	0.685 m
ext. w. (E-W)	0.66 m
int. diam. of bowl	0.56 m

VII History

In 1086 Countess Judith held the manor of 11 hides and 1 virgate. In addition Gerard held ½ virgate from Count Alan and Hardwin de Scales held 1 virgate.

VIII Comments/Opinions

Fraser (1966) identified the window head subject as a ubiquitous and persistent symbol of creation and destruction. Johnson (1984) pointed out that in such representations the female figure is normally shown centrally, flanked symmetrically by a pair of creatures, and suggested that this window head might have been cut down from a tympanum of the triangular form seen at Tarrant Rushton (Dorset) or Down St Mary (Devon).

IX Bibliography

J. Andersen, The Witch on the Wall: Mediaeval Erotic Sculpture in the British Isles. London 1977, 19, 100, 144.
M. D. Anderson, History and Imagery in British Churches. London 1971, 17.
G. R. Bossier, Notes on the Cambridgeshire Churches. 1827, 45.
The Ecclesiastical and Architectural Topography of England: Cambridgeshire (Architectural Institute of Great Britain and Ireland), Oxford 1852, 170.
C. H. Evelyn-White, County Churches: Cambridgeshire and the Isle of Ely. London 1911, 190-91.
D. Fraser, The Heraldic Woman: The Many Faces of Primitive Art. Englewood Cliffs 1966, 45.
F. S. L. Johnson, A Catalogue of Romanesque Sculpture in Cambridgeshire and the Isle of Ely. M.Phil (London, Courtauld Institute), 1984, 316-17.
D. and S. Lysons, Magna Britannia. Cambridgeshire II, pt I, London 1808, 279.
N. Pevsner, The Buildings of England. Cambridgeshire, Harmondsworth 1954 (2nd ed. 1970), 484.
The Victoria History of the County of Cambridgeshire and the Isle of Ely, VI, 1978, 273-74.