St George and All Saints, Thriplow, Cambridgeshire

I Location

Site Location
Thriplow
National Grid Reference
TL 442 469
County
traditional: Cambridgeshire
now: Cambridgeshire
Diocese
medieval: not confirmed
now: Ely
Dedication
medieval: not confirmed
now (or name of monument): St George and All Saints
Type of building/monument
Parish church

II General Description

Font, detail of support

Font, detail of support

Aisleless cruciform church, mostly of the late 13thc., with a central tower with spike. The W front is Perpendicular, and there was a restoration by Sir George Gilbert Scott in 1877. Construction is of flint, Barnack stone and clunch (Vinter 1995). The church contains a 12thc. font.

V Furnishings

1. Fonts

(i)

Font, general view from S

Font, general view from S

At W end of nave, a square bowl in Sussex marble supported on five modern shafts. The faces of the bowl are carved with arcading, seven bays per face. There is a repair to the SW angle. The circular inner bowl is lead lined.

Dimensions
h. of basin 0.31 m
w. (N-S) 0.76 m
w. (E-W) 0.75 m
interior diam. 0.61 m

VII History

In 1086, the manor of 6½ hides was held by the Abbot of Ely. Holdings of 1 hide and 2 acres seem to have been the subject of disputes between the abbey and Hardwin de Scales. Sigar held 1½ hides from Geoffrey de Mandeville.

VIII Comments/Opinions

Both Pevsner and Johnson describe the font as Purbeck, Johnson adding that it is the only font of this type in the county. The type is commonest, of course, in Sussex and must be an import.

IX Bibliography

  • G. R. Bossier, Notes on the Cambridgeshire Churches. 1827, 41.
  • The Ecclesiastical and Architectural Topography of England: Cambridgeshire (Architectural Institute of Great Britain and Ireland), Oxford 1852, 19.
  • F. S. L. Johnson, A Catalogue of Romanesque Sculpture in Cambridgeshire and the Isle of Ely. M.Phil (London, Courtauld Institute), 1984, 308.
  • D. and S. Lysons, Magna Britannia. Cambridgeshire II, pt I, London 1808, 268-69.
  • N. Pevsner, The Buildings of England. Cambridgeshire, Harmondsworth 1954 (2nd ed. 1970), 387.
  • The Victoria History of the County of Cambridgeshire and the Isle of Ely, VIII, 1982, 246-47.
  • G. O. Vinter, The Church of St George or All Saints in Thriplow, 1951 (revised to 1995).