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- 1. St Mary Magdalene, Ickleton, Cambridgeshire, England
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Parish church Architecturally, Ickleton is one of the most important Romanesque churches in the county. It was originally a cruciform church of c.1100 with aisleless chancel, aisled four-bay nave with clerestory, transepts and a central tower. The S aisle was widened (14thc.) to the width of the transept, and a chapel added to the N side of the chancel (15thc.), which was later removed although its entrance arch remains. The N transept has since been shortened to the width of the aisle. The original nave clerestory was very low, with windows above the apex of each arch. When the aisle roofs were raised, new windows were added at a higher level, but five rather than four, so that the clerestory is out of phase with the arcade. The chancel was rebuilt in the later Middle Ages, and again in 1882. The upper storey of the tower is 14-15thc., and it has a lead broach spire and a Sanctus bell. The church is constructed of flint and Sarsen pebbles. Restoration work following a deliberate fire in 1979 resulted in the discovery of a celebrated cycle of wall paintings from the 2nd half of the 12thc. decorates the N wall of the nave. Sculpture described here comprises the nave arcades, W crossing arch and W doorway.
- 2. St Giles, Tydd St Giles, Cambridgeshire, England
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Parish church St Giles's is a large church with a freestanding tower to the SE. The church has a six-bay aisled nave with late 12thc. or early 13thc. arcades and later N and S doorways, the N under a porch. The present, Perpendicular, clerestory is higher than the original, which can still be seen on the outside as a series of round or slightly pointed arches. The chancel was destroyed in a gale in 1741, although the early 13thc. chancel arch survives. It was rebuilt shorter the following year and finally taken down in the 1868 restoration. This was undertaken by the Rector, Canon John Scott, under the direction of his brother, Sir George Gilbert Scott. Construction is of roughly coursed stones with brick repairs. The freestanding tower, begun in the 13thc., is of three storeys, the lowest of stone rubble, the second rendered for most of its height, and the remainder of brick. The ground floor was originally open on all four sides. The nave arcades and chancel arch are described here, although all probably date from the early years of the 13thc.
- 3. St Peter, Wilburton, Cambridgeshire, England
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Parish church St Peter's has a big, aisleless 15thc. nave with Perpendicular windows under wall arches, a 15thc. chancel with a similar internal elevation and a N vestry, a 13thc. W tower with a 15thc. tower arch and a two-storey 15thc. S porch. The chancel arch is 13thc. The church was restored in 1851, and N transept and attached organ chamber were added in 1868. Construction is of rubble with some render on the tower, which is fitted with a lead spike. The only features recorded here are two stones in the S porch, one loose, the other mortared in place. Both are treated as loose stones below.
- 4. St Peter and St Paul, Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, England
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Parish church The earliest fabric suggests the existence of a late-12thc., six-bay aisled nave with a W tower and a chancel of unknown form. Towards the end of the 13thc. the church was almost doubled in width by widening the N aisle and replacing the S aisle with a second nave, as wide as the first, and equipped with its own chancel and S aisle. At the same time or slightly later the original chancel was enlarged in both length and width, so that it was now wider than the original nave, to which it was linked by a diagonal bay. An open arcade separated the two chancels. Around 1500 the W tower collapsed, taking the 12thc. S arcade with it. The arcade was replaced and a new tower built, detached from the church at the NW and bearing the arms of Bishop Goodrick (1534–54). Remains of the original tower survive in the form of its N and S arches and the E arch bases. The church therefore consists of a double nave with aisles to N and S, and arcades of (from N to S) c.1200, c.1500, and c.1300; a two-storey 14thc. S porch; a double chancel; W tower arches but no W tower, and a detached NW tower of the 1530s. Construction is of ashlar, that on the S of roughly coursed stones. The tower is of regular large blocks. Romanesque sculpture is found on the capitals of the tower arches and the N nave arcade.
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