St Botolph's isstands on Trumpington Street in the city centre. The church is substantially of the 14thc. and consists of a nave with aisles of c.1400 to which a S porch and S chapel were added in the mid-15thc.; an aisleless chancel rebuilt by Bodley in 1872; and a W tower with boldly projecting angle buttresses dating from c.1400. Construction is of pebble and stone rubble with ashlar dressings. The only 12thc. carvings are chevron voussoirs reset in the N and S walls of the tower.

We do not have details of the foundation of the church, but it is conjectured to have been in the late-10thc. or early-11thc. when Botolph's cult was being promoted at Ely, Thorney and Bury by Bishop Aehelwold. The earliest mention of it is in c.1200 when the advowson belonged to the Bishop of Ely. It was appropriated by Barnwell Priory before or in the time of Bishop Eustace of Ely (1198-1215), the arrangement initiated by Bishop Hugh in 1235 being that the vicar was to receive all the tithes and income of the church for which he paid an annual rent to the Priory.

The 12thc fragments re-used in the c.1400 tower pre-date the standing fabric, pointing to the presence of a 12thc, church on the site. This was presumably the church appropriated by Barnwell priory. Similar chevron is found on the SW transept of Ely cathedral, possibly completed by Bishop Ridel (1174-89).