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STATION ROAD
(An Occasional Series on Swavesey’s Roads)
Part Three
The Parish Church and Priory
By Stephen Bull

The arrival of the “English”
Many centuries ago, sometime between 650 and 1050 AD, the Anglo-Saxons crossed from their northern European homelands and entered by way of the Wash and penetrated up rivers mainly in East Anglia (Pevsner). Attracted by suitable navigation waters and a landscape that had been managed by Romano-British farmers centuries before they berthed their boats near to fen-edge villages including “Swavesey”.*¹

Which of the early settlers first built a Christian church at Swavesey is not known but the low gravel island at the north end of the village close by a navigable brook (later to become known as “Church Brook”), was a logical choice of site for the delivery of the building stone and materials at the nearby wharf.

During the period from 7-11th centuries a number of Saxon monasteries, and priories, were established and maintained in the East Anglian region. A priory is first recorded at Swavesey founded sometime before 1086 by the Norman Count, Alan de la Zouch, son-in-law of William I (the Conquer). The Saxons also introduced their ‘manorial’ system of local government to the region and hence the term “Lord of the Manor.*² The manor house to the south east of the church is a reminder of the medieval system.

Proceeding along “Station Road”
The Swan Pond to Over section of Station Road was constructed as late as 1839-40 (Refer to The Meridian: June-July issue). The stone bridge over Church Brook, once a navigable main waterway but now a stagnant backwater, bears the inscription “Erected in 1839”. Sluice gates are incorporated in the bridge to prevent floodwaters backing up into the village.

At this point on the left the parish church with its tower comes into view, “one of the noblest in Cambridgeshire” (Conybeare). On a sunny summer’s day the warm brown stone shipped from the Barnack quarries in Northamptonshire reveal an “unusually fine church” (Pevsner). Passing through wrought iron gates the church is reached by a short avenue of Cedars of Lebanon and larch trees.

On entering the church one is struck by the unusually long nave “having apparently been built with some ambition” (Pevsner). “Peaceful and quiet” is just one of the many favourable comments inscribed in the church visitor’s book. A guide to the church dedicated to Andrew the Apostle: “The Parish Priory Church of St Andrew” to give it it’s full name, written by the vicar the Revd. John Yule is available in the church and is very good value at 20p.

What to look for in the church
A painting of the interior
Light streams through tall windows mainly of plain glass into an interior renovated in 1866-67. This major restoration took a year and four months to complete, the church being closed from February 1866 to May 1867 - the services during that time were held in the National School. The benefactor was the Honorable Mrs. Dudley Ryder, Lady of the Manor. At the time the restoration cost upwards of £3,000. Work included the replacement of the wooden pulpit as depicted in the accompanying sketch from a painting by W. Wickham to be found under the bell tower.

The ‘poppy-head’ bench ends
One striking feature of the church is the decorative bench ends. The ‘poppy-heads’ or ‘finials’ of the bench ends depict a wide variety of real and grotesque beasts and representations of angels. There are over 120 designs including “a fox and a goose, a fox and a stork, a bear and a dog, a wolf and a hound, an eagle and a snake, a wild boar, a lion, a pelican, a cherub, St Peter and an angel playing a dulcimer” (Conybeare) to name a few.

The small size of the benches in the north aisle, perhaps dating from the 15th century, suggest they were probably for children. Most of those in the body of the church and the south aisle are Victorian copies of the originals. For visitors to the church they are both a curiosity and talking point and photographers have a field day!

Mother’s Union banner
Continuing towards the chancel one can only but admire the Mother’s Union banner on the right. Produced by professional banner makers it is beautifully embroidered portraying the Christ Child cradled in his mother’s arms. Also depicted are the imposing north view of the church, a sailing ship (presumably representing Swavesey’s earlier water-borne trade), a rabbit and snail!!!

The misericords (in the Choir stalls)
Many people, and particularly children, cannot resist viewing the misericords in the choir (but mind your fingers!)

The Lady Chapel
The Lady Chapel has a different ‘feel’ about it to the rest of the church. Not only is it smaller in size but it includes a number of historical associations.
The south west corner of the Chapel, for instance, shows tell-tale Saxon ‘long and short work’ adze-cut stones, common to the late Saxon and early Norman period. Left unplastered they reveal the south-eastern corner of the original stone Saxon chancel. This would indicate a substantial and quite tall Saxon church for its time (Ravensdale).

The east window of the chapel contains fine modern glass. This was dedicated in 1967 in memory of the Cole family, for many years farmers in the district.

The south wall is dominated by another memorial consisting of two beautifully carved life-size angels holding two stone doors as if it were a shrine (Pevsner). The elaborate monument is to one Anne Kempe, Lady Cutts, whose family once held the Swavesey manor and who died in 1631.

The vicarage next door was built in 1864 by Canon Sharp, first resident vicar of the parish. Post cards are available of the church - why not call in and have a look around the church.

Click here to see past and present views of the outside of the church.

The Priory
To the north of the church an undulating ‘five acre’ field contains the remains of earth works associated with a mediaeval priory. Established sometime before 1086 by Alan de la Zouch in William the Conquer’s reign (FU) the priory, together with the church, was granted to the Abbey of St Sergius and St Bacchus in Normandy in France. In the late 14th century it was, with the Kings permission, conveyed to the Carthusian monks of St Anne, near Coventry.

During 1808 the “Magna Britannia” (1810) recorded that “A few walls of Swavesey Abbey, including a pointed doorway, are to be seen nearby adjoining the church on the north side”. The last traces of the priory disappeared in the 19th century when the stone from the priory was used for repairs to the church and rectory. The existence of the next door priory may help to explain the unusually large church for a village. In all probability the church was two churches serving two groups in the village with the monks using the nave and chancel of the church for their worship, while the villagers used the south aisle as the parish church! (Ravensdale)

The Prior owned property in the medieval village including “a fishery, a weir and a fishhouse in the (River) Ouse” (FU). In 1279 he also held the Rectory of Swavesey. Alongside ownership of property records survive of the Prior’s obligations, particularly to the poor. One such annual responsibility was a “distribution in the parish at the feast of St. Andrew (30th November) as much bread as is made of a quarter of good wheat and a (measure) of red herrings in alms to the poor” (FU).

The number of monks is not known, but it seems to have been very few, and at times the Prior was almost alone (AoSEC). Details of the priory in the 12 and 13th centuries are sketchy and seemed to have had a precarious existence up until the the suppression of the Carthusian priory in 1539 (A History of Cambridge the Isle of Ely II).

Aerial photographs indicate that the priory site, including a semi-circular ditch/moat, covered quite a large area stretching north of the railway track and include the manor house to the south-east of the church (An Historical Tour of Swavesey: Welcome to the Village of Swavesey booklet).

Although cut off from the village by the Church Brook for centuries the Church and Lord of the Manor dominated the life of the medieval village - which for reasons of interest I will deal with next issue.

Notes:-
*¹ The Anglo-Saxons: The Anglo-Saxons established themselves early in the region as evidenced by place names. Cambridgeshire abounds in villages with names ending in “ton” (Fen Drayton, Fen Stanton, etc.) - Saxon for ‘fence’ or ‘enclosure’; and “ham” (Willingham, Cottenham, etc.) - a ‘homestead’.
East Anglia abounds in Saxon associations: e.g. Ipswich is described as “An historic Anglo-Saxon town” and the nearby West Stow Anglo-Saxon village site.

*² ‘Manorial’ government: The Saxons introduced the manorial system of local government, which was later adopted by the Normans following the ‘Conquest’ in 1066. The counties were divided into districts called ‘hundreds’ and into smaller territorial divisions, or ‘manors’ with their feudal lords.

Acknowledgements:-

1. “Archaeology of Cambridgeshire: Vol. 2: South East Cambridgeshire the Fen Edge” by Alison Taylor;
2. “The Buildings of England: Cambridgeshire” by Pevsner;
3. “Fen and Upland” : 2,000 Years of History (1961);
4. “History on your Doorstep” by J.R. Ravensdale (1982);
5. “Highways Byways in Cambrideshire Ely”: Conybeare;
6. “The Meridian”: June 1993 April/May 1999;
7. "Swavesey Chronicle”: Compiled by H. Hepher (1982)
8. Welcome to the Village of Swavesey booklet: John Shepperson
   
9. Guide to "The Parish & Priory Church of St Andrew, Swavesey" by Revd. John-David Yule (1996).