The Corpus of ROMANESQUE SCULPTURE in Britain & Ireland
Ely (now)
Parish church
St Mary's consists of a square-ended chancel with N vestry and N organ transept, a clerestoried nave with north and south aisles and a S porch, and a west tower, all of brown cobble with a good deal of squared ironstone in the tower. In 1930 the church was seriously damaged by fire, and it was practically rebuilt by Sir Albert Richardson following the original design and reconsecrated in 1932. Originally, the tower (largely undamaged by the fire) dated from the 14thc., and the remainder largely from the 15thc., but with the re-use of 14thc. material in the form of the arches of the S nave arcade and the S nave doorway. The original organ transept was a 19thc. addition. A brick parish room has recently been added on the N side, communicating with the church through the N nave doorway. The Purbeck font is the only 12thc. feature.
Parish church
St Peter's has a nave with a four-bay N aisle, an aisleless chancel and a three-storey W tower with a broach spire. There are doorways to S, W and N, the last under a porch. The thick N nave wall may be a survival from the 12thc church. The S aisle with its arcade was added c. 1300, and the chancel also dates from this period. The tower is late 14thc. At some time in the 15thc the E end of the chancel was rebuilt, and the nave heightened with a clerestorey to the S only. The chancel was restored in 1871 when the east wall was largely rebuilt and a new roof put on; the rest of the church was refurbished in 1876-79. The south aisle was partly rebuilt in 1903-4. The spire was struck by lightning on 3rd July 1908, and subsequently repaired. Construction is of stone rubble except for the S aisle (cobble), and the spire (ashlar). A few architectural fragments and pieces of tombs are reset in the interior walls (see IV.5.c).
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
Originally an aisleless church with nave, chancel and central tower, all of c.1300. In the early 14thc. a N aisle and transepts were added. The main entrance is on the N, facing the road, and a Perpendicular porch was added on this side. A vestry to the S of the chancel was added in the 19thc. Construction is of flint and pebble, and the tower has a Hertfordshire spike. The church was restored in 1869-70 and 1956-61. A reset impost and a loose capital (reported but not found) provide evidence earlier than any of the standing fabric.
Parish church
Wide, 13thc. aisled nave of five bays with
Perpendicular clerestorey, N and S transepts, N and
S porches, the former two-storied, aisleless chancel
with N vestry, and W tower with a lead spike. The
overall effect from outside is of a Perpendicular, battlemented church
constructed in russet brown carstone and pebble rubble. The only feature
included here is the font of c1200.
Parish church
St Margaret's has a nave with a broad N aisle and a narrow S aisle, a
chancel with a N aisle partly partitioned off to form a
vestry, and a W tower with a broach spire. The oldest
work here is a series of Anglo-Saxon reliefs related to those at
Breedon-on-the-Hill (Leics) and now set in the E chancel wall above the altar (until recently they were
outside, built into the E buttresses). The N arcade, N
chancel
arcade and
chancel arch all date from c.1160; the S aisle was
added c.1300 and it was probably at this time that the N aisle was widened, and
the two W bays of the N arcade
turned into a single long bay by removing a
pier and building a broad arch. In 1872 the church was
restored and a S porch built, and in 1901 the N aisle
was again rebuilt and extended to the E end of the church, absorbing the chapel
and vestry that were there before. The spire was
struck by lightning in 1917 and the upper part had to be rebuilt. The nave,
chancel and S aisle are faced with stone rubble; the N
aisle is of rough-faced ashlar; the lower storey of the tower is of rubble and
the upper storey of roughly-coursed ashlar blocks. 12thc. work is found in the
S chancel
corbel table, the N
arcades of nave and chancel and
the chancel arch. 2 fine relief panels showing standing
figures, built into the S wall of the chancel, are
probably 9thc., but are described and discussed since they have sometimes been
dated to the 12thc.
Parish church
St Helen's has an aisleless nave with a large S transept, no tower but a bellcote on the W gable, and a chancel with N vestry. The chancel, facing the road, is neo-Romanesque work of 1850, replacing an 18thc. chancel, which in turn replaced the original. The nave is 12thc. and the transept dates from c. 1300. Construction is of coursed rubble except for the ashlar chancel. The restoration of 1850 involved the rebuilding of the chancel and vestry, the rebuilding of the N wall of the nave, and the addition of the bell-cote. There is a 12thc. chancel arch and N doorway.
Parish church
St Nicholas' has an aisled nave, the aisles embracing the W tower, a N transept and a chancel with N vestry and W tower with no spire. The three-bay nave arcades belong to the early years of the 13thc., but are included here since they include a multi-scallop capital. Their round piers have been heightened considerably. Above them is a tall Perpendicular clerestorey, so that the nave is unusually high. This heightening is most spectacularly seen in the vertiginous tower arch. The aisles were rebuilt and extended W alongside the tower c.1300. The vestry has a two-bay quadripartite rib vault. The chancel was rebuilt in two phases, 1839-40 and 1857, and the remainder of the church was restored in 1869. Construction is of stone rubble except for the tower, which is ashlar faced. There are fragments of dogtooth reset high in the E gable of the nave.
Parish church
Perpendicular nave with a S aisle of 1877 and N doorway under a
porch, and a splendid 14thc. chancel with a N vestry. The W tower
is dateable by the heraldry of its windows to the time of Bishop Fordham of Ely
(1388–1426). The chancel is ashlar faced, the
tower of pebble rendered with mortar and equipped with a stumpy lead spire, the
nave of pebble with brick repairs, and limewashed except for the 19thc. S
aisle. Into the W end of this, the Victorian builders incorporated a number of
12thc. carved stones, presumably from an earlier church on the site. These are
described in Section III.3.d below. The report also describes the plain
font.
Parish church
The church consists of an aisled nave and aisleless chancel of flint with reused ashlar (including 12thc. moulded
stones but no sculpture) and tile and brick repairs. There is a W tower of
ashlar with a Hertfordshire spike. The nave has doorways to N and S, the S
being larger and protected by a flint porch. An ashlar
vestry has been added to the N of the chancel. At the junction of nave and chancel on the S is an octagonal stair turret. Inside it becomes clear that the nave has been
lengthened. The three E bays of the S arcade date from c.1300, while the three W bays and the entire N arcade are
later. The only Romanesque feature is the font.