St Peter and St Paul, Little Gransden, Cambridgeshire

I Location

Site Location
Little Gransden
National Grid Reference
TL 271 552
County
traditional: Cambridgeshire
now: Cambridgeshire
Diocese
medieval: not confirmed
now: Ely
Dedication
medieval: not confirmed
now (or name of monument): St Peter and St Paul
Type of building/monument
Parish church

II General Description

Exterior, general view from SW.

Exterior, general view from SW.

Nave and aisles of the 13thc. with Perpendicular clerestorey and doorways to N and S, the former with a porch. Aisleless chancel with N vestry, and a tall Perpendicular W tower without a spire. Construction is of rough ashlar rubble and pebbles. The chancel was restored in 1858 and 1875, and in 1885–88 J. P. St Aubyn restored the entire church. As Pevsner comments, "the church looks almost entirely — except for the Perp W tower — as if it had been rebuilt". In the S wall of the tower are two reset chevron voussoirs.

III Exterior Features

3. Exterior Decoration

d. Miscellaneous

(i) Voussoir
W tower, S wall with reset voussoirs.

W tower, S wall with reset voussoirs.

W tower, S wall, reset voussoir 1.

W tower, S wall, reset voussoir 1.

W tower, S wall, reset voussoir 2.

W tower, S wall, reset voussoir 2.

Reset chevron voussoir, at E end of S wall of tower, just above the first storey string course. Centrifugal lateral face chevron of two quirked rolls (edge concealed). Too high to measure.

(ii) Voussoir

Reset chevron voussoir, same design as (i), set at W end of S wall of tower, just above the plinth course. Some mortar render remains on its surface.

Dimensions
overall l. 0.19 m
max. w. 0.12 m
min. w. 0.11 m

VII History

In 1086 the manor pertained to the Abbey of Ely.

VIII Comments/Opinions

IX Bibliography

  • N. Pevsner, The Buildings of England. Cambridgeshire, Harmondsworth 1954 (2nd ed. 1970), 428.
  • G. R. Bossier, Notes on the Cambridgeshire Churches. 1827, 36.
  • The Ecclesiastical and Architectural Topography of England: Cambridgeshire (Architectural Institute of Great Britain and Ireland), Oxford 1852, 34.
  • C. H. Evelyn-White, County Churches: Cambridgeshire and the Isle of Ely. London 1911, 82-84.
  • F. S. L. Johnson, A Catalogue of Romanesque Sculpture in Cambridgeshire and the Isle of Ely. M.Phil (London, Courtauld Institute), 1984, 276.
  • D. and S. Lysons, Magna Britannia. Cambridgeshire II, pt I, London 1808, 202-03.
  • RCHME, An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in the County of Cambridge. Volume 1. West Cambridgeshire. London 1968, 167-69.
  • The Victoria History of the County of Cambridgeshire and the Isle of Ely, V, 1973, 97-98.