St Andrew, Stapleford, Cambridgeshire

I Location

Site Location
Stapleford
National Grid Reference
TL 471 521
County
traditional: Cambridgeshire
now: Cambridgeshire
Diocese
medieval: not confirmed
now: Ely
Dedication
medieval: not confirmed
now (or name of monument): St Andrew
Type of building/monument
Parish church

II General Description

Exterior general view from NW

Exterior general view from NW

Exterior S side, nave and chancel from SW

Exterior S side, nave and chancel from SW

Nave with N and S aisles and a N transept at the E end; aisleless chancel and W tower. A large flint vestry has been added to the N of the nave. The nave, transept and tower are of flint and pebble, while the chancel has been newly rebuilt in concrete blocks on the original flint plinth course. There is a 12thc. chancel arch, and a small gravestone loose inside the church.

IV Interior Features

1. Arches

a. Chancel arch

Chancel arch, general view from W

Chancel arch, general view from W

Chancel arch, W face N capitals

Chancel arch, W face N capitals

Chancel arch, W face S capitals

Chancel arch, W face S capitals

Chancel arch, W face S capitals

Chancel arch, W face S capitals

Chancel arch, E face N capital

Chancel arch, E face N capital

Chancel arch, E face S capital

Chancel arch, E face S capital

Round headed with two orders to W and one order to E.

First order (shared)

Half columns on attic bases. The N capital has two scallops on the S face and one on the E and W faces. The shields have T-shaped depressions with, on the S face, drilling around their lower borders. Plain necking and chamfered impost with big beads in compartments on the chamfer. The S capital is a simpler double scallop with no recessing of the shields. There are volutes at the angles. Plain necking and plain chamfered impost. In the arch is a fat soffit roll.

Second order (W face only)

Replacement en-delit nook shafts and cushion capitals. The N capital is plain with an angle tuck and plain (new) necking. The impost is chamfered with chip-carved trefoils on the upright. The S cushion capital is carved with fluting on the bell and roundels on the shield containing foliage forms: on the N face a palmette, and on the W a quatrefoil. The arch has an angle roll and fret ornament on the face.

V Furnishings

2. Tombs/Graveslabs

(i) Graveslab

Loose gravestone

Loose gravestone

On window sill at W end of nave, a small ridge-backed grave cover. A central fillet runs the length of the ridge, broken by a lozenge at either end and a bundle of four transverse reeds in the centre. The top surface is surrounded by an angle roll.

Dimensions
l. along ridge 0.565 m
w. at wider end 0.23 m (damaged - originally 0.25 m)
w. at narrower end 0.155 m
max. thickness of block 0.08 m

VII History

In 1086 the manor was held by the Abbot of Ely and assessed at 10 hides.

VIII Comments/Opinions

IX Bibliography

  • Cambridge Antiquarian Society Proceedings and Communications, LXXI, 35.
  • Ecclesiologist, XXVII, 1866,
  • F. S. L. Johnson, A Catalogue of Romanesque Sculpture in Cambridgeshire and the Isle of Ely. M.Phil (London, Courtauld Institute), 1984, 287-89.
  • D. and S. Lysons, Magna Britannia. Cambridgeshire II, pt I, London 1808, 256-57
  • N. Pevsner, The Buildings of England. Cambridgeshire, Harmondsworth 1954 (2nd ed. 1970,
  • The Victoria History of the County of Cambridgeshire and the Isle of Ely, VIII, 1982, 235-36.