The Corpus of ROMANESQUE SCULPTURE in Britain & Ireland
Lincoln (to 1109), then Ely (medieval)
Parish church
The present church of St Giles, Castle Street was rebuilt in 1875 to the design of T. H. and F.Healey of Bradford on a site slightly to the N of the medieval church that it replaced. The old church was founded 1092 (see History), and consisted of a nave, chancel, N transept and S porch, to which was added a large N annexe early in the 19thc. This was pulled down when the present church was built, but its chancel arch was re-used at the E end of the S nave aisle, and a doorway, perhaps based on the old S nave doorway but constructed of stones of various periods, was inserted at the E end of the N aisle to serve as the vestry doorway. These two features are described below.
The church of 1875 has a 4-bay aisled nave with clerestoreys. The aisles continue alongside the 2-bay chancel, providing a S chapel and a N vestry.
Parish church
The church is of pebble rubble, embattled
following a restoration of 1640 when the chancel was also rebuilt. It has a nave, possibly of the
11thc. (RCHM), with a 14thc. S aisle, a mortar-rendered unaisled
chancel with S vestry and a W
tower. There are assorted architectural mouldings and a piece of a 13thc. grave
slab reset on the exterior of the S and E walls of the S vestry. The only 12thc. sculpture is on a reset window head
in the N nave wall.
Parish church
Little Downham is a village in the East Cambridgeshire district, 2 miles N of the centre of Ely. The church is on the N side of the main road through the village and has a 5-bay aisled nave with clerestorey and S doorway under a 15thc. porch, an aisleless chancel with a N vestry of 1900, and a W tower. The earliest parts are 12thc. (the lower storey of the tower). For the rest, the elaborate S doorway is early 13thc. in its structure but 12thc. in its decorative repertoire. This is described below, but such other early 13thc. features as the tower arch and nave arcades fall outside the scope of the CRSBI. The church is of mixed flint, pebble and stone, except for the N aisle, of brick, which was restored in 1912. Other restorations took place in 1897 and 1899.
Parish church
Bottisham is a village on the N side of the A14, Cambridge to Newmarket road, midway between the two. The church stands alongside the village High Street, and is a very tall and imposing building, largely built of clunch and limestone with some flint in the W porch. It consists of a chancel; an aisled nave with clerestories and N and S porches, the N now used as a vestry; a W tower and a tall W porch with a giant-order arch facing the High Street. The chancel and the lower parts of the tower and the W porch are 13thc, and the remainder belong to an extensive early-14thc rebuilding. The nave has a wooden W gallery. The main restoration was by Charles Papworth in 1839-40; the W tower and porch were restored in 1849-50; the chancel refurbished in 1867 and its E wall rebuilt in 1875, and the S porch was repaired in 1870.The E ends of both nave aisles have been screened off to form chapels, and in the N chapel, below the touching memorial to two infants of the Alington family, are a number of carved stones and tomb fragments, including the three Romanesque pieces described here: a tympanum, fragments of a font bowl, and a chevron voussoir. There is no Romanesque fabric in the church as far as can be seen.
Parish church
A cruciform church with an aisled nave and a W tower with chapels to N and S (i.e. a species of W transept). Most of this, that is to say the lower stage of the tower with the W doorway and the N, S and E arches inside, the N nave arcade, the clerestorey with circular windows with plate-tracery quatrefoils, the S nave doorway and the N transept must date from the early 13thc. The S nave arcade, however, is older in conception and is described below. The S transept is in fact a later chapel, and looks 14thc., the same date as the upper storeys of the tower. The aisleless chancel is presumably c.1200 but its windows are later and the chancel arch is 19thc. Construction is all of pebble rubble with ashlar dressings, and the tower has a crumpled spire.
Parish church
St Peter's is substantially a 12thc. church of nave, chancel and W tower. Aisles were added to the nave in the 14thc. The W tower, with its twin bell openings, angle shafts and tower arch are all recorded here, as is the font. Construction is of flint and pebble with ashlar dressings and the tower has a lead spike. There was a restoration by Ewan Christian in 1883.
Parish church
St Andrew's has a fine ashlar-faced chancel of c.1230–40, a five-bay aisled nave with later 13thc. arcades and a W tower with two plain 12thc. windows in its W wall. The plain jambs of the tower arch are 13thc., but the arch itself is four-centred. The nave has no clerestorey now, the one built in the 15thc. having collapsed in 1792. The chancel walls show evidence of Micklethwaite's 1886 restoration. They are of ashlar at the top, and brick (N), pebble rubble (S), or incongruously pebble-dashed (E) below. Micklethwaite would surely accept no blame for the last. The nave is of pebble rubble, restored by Scott in 1870–75, and the tower of ashlar. The nave has N and S doorways, the S under a porch, the N giving access to a modern church hall on this side. Inside the church are a 12thc. grave slab and a plain font.
Parish church, formerly chapel
An extremely satisfying late medieval church set on a large open green to the S of the town. It consists of an aisled nave, the N arcade early 14thc., the S slightly later; a chancel by W. Smith (1843); and a 14thc. W tower with an octagonal stone spire. The 14thc. work is dated by a Papal indulgence of 1343, but the church was considerably modified in the early 16thc. This work includes the clerestorey, rebuilding of the aisles, and S porch bearing the date 1528. The most celebrated aspect of the Perpendicular remodelling is, of course, the double hammerbeam roof with three tiers of angels. Construction is of mixed stone rubble but the 16thc. parts include flint and flushwork. The re-cut 12thc. font must, therefore, come from an earlier building.
Parish church
The church has a W tower, and a nave with 14thc. N and S aisles of three bays now, but originally longer - the aisles have been removed and the arcade blocked at the W. There are N and S transepts and an aisleless chancel the same width as the nave's central vessel. Construction is of flint with a brick chancel and buttresses of brick with ashlar facings. The church has seen extensive rebuilding in brick. The tower has three storeys of which the first and most of the second are flint, while the top part of the second and all of the third has the flint loosely chequered with ashlar blocks. The font is the only 12thc. feature.
Parish church
Aisled nave with N and S porches, chancel and W tower. The nave (except for its aisles) and the chancel are 12thc. The shafted SE angle of the 12thc. nave is still visible outside, while the chancel has 12thc. windows to N and S. The S aisle dates from the 14thc. and was extended W c.1400 at the same time as the tower was built. The N aisle and the porches are late 15thc. The tower is of three storeys with an octagonal stone spire. Construction is of pebble rubble except for the chancel, which is of ashlar. The upper storey of the tower is rendered. The chancel was restored in 1878 by Charles Hodgson Fowler. The S wall was completely rebuilt using ashlar from the E wall, and the Norman window reset. The E wall and an organ recess in the N wall were built entirely new, and the floor was raised. 12thc. features are the font and the chancel windows