Nominal: 966.5 Hz Diameter: 35" Bell 1 of 8
Founded by Charles Newman 1691
Dove Bell ID: 49730 Tower ID: 17550 - View Tower Listed: No Canons: Removed Turnings: unturned Cracked: No
Cambridge: St Clement
Diocese of Ely
Church, 614034
http://www.stclementscambridge.orgOverview
Grid reference: TL 448 588
The west front of the church is dominated by the latest substantial addition to the fabric, the tower built to designs by Charles Humfrey in 1821. In order to construct it, it was necessary to remove the west wall of the nave and with it the fifteenth-century five-light west window and the west doorway (of unknown date). The tower has its own instantly recognisable character which as a representative of the Gothick style; there is no doubt that it looked much better with its spire.
Visiting and facilities
Building is open for worship
Building
Ground Plan Description and Dimensions
Ground plan:
Short west tower embraced by the aisles of the nave; five-bay aisled nave, the south aisle furnished as a chapel for the reservation of the sacrament; chancel with north vestry.
Footprint of Church buildings: 462 m²
Description of Archaeology and History
The church is first mentioned in about 1218, and the earliest parts of the present fabric date from the early thirteenth century. In the early sixteenth century the aisles were rebuilt and the clerestory was added. The chancel was rebuilt in or about 1726 and in 1821 the west tower was built to designs by Charles Humfrey with the proceeds of a bequest from William Cole of Milton (d. 1782). The timber belfry which stood in the churchyard was destroyed at this time. The church was restored in 1863, and the chancel was gothicised internally. In 1866 a vestry was built on the site of a former north chancel chapel and the spire was removed from the tower in 1928.
Exterior Description
The west front of the church is dominated by the latest substantial addition to the fabric, the tower built to designs by Charles Humfrey in 1821. In order to construct it, it was necessary to remove the west wall of the nave and with it the fifteenth-century five-light west window and the west doorway (of unknown date). The tower has its own instantly recognisable character which as a representative of the Gothick style; there is no doubt that it looked much better with its spire. The texture of the tower contrasts with the rubble walls of the church since it is covered with Roman cement of rather a hard grey colour. On the ground floor is a doorway with a four-centred head under a horizontal label with quatrefoils in the spandrels, and above this in an elongated cusped lozenge is the inscription DEUM COLE, said to be an ingenious way of complying with William Cole's request to have his name on the exterior of the tower without offending propriety. Above this is a sharply pointed two-light traceried window with a very thin hood mould, and the next stage is pierced by small quatrefoils within roundels. The upper-most stage which houses the bells has small paired lights under a horizontal label in each face, with a row of Gothick pendants below the parapet. The parapet has merlons of two sizes and crocketted pinnecies at the angles. Since the tower has canted corners, these are set at forty-five degrees to the cardinal faces. The spire which formerly rose within the parapet was quite slender with crockets up the edges and two tiers of lucarnes, remarkably soholary compared with the tower which remains.
The tower is separated from the aisles by tall thick buttresses which rise to the parapet of the clerestory, and are faced with stone. Each aisle has a late Perpendicular window of three trefoiled lights without cusping under a four-centred arch, and in the north aisle there is a blocked doorway towards the north-west angle which has obviously been disused for many years. The north wall of the north aisle consists of four bays divided by buttresses and each containing a large plain four-light window under a four-centred head. The south wall of the south aisle is similar, with the difference of a doorway in the western bay which is now the main entrance to the church. This is re-set, and much restored; it is Early English, with a two-centred arch of three chamfered orders of which the inner most is continuous and the outer two spring from shafts with moulded capitals and bases. The label ends in stops carved as heads.
The east walls of both aisles have been much altered. That of the north aisle has a blocked fifteenth-century arch and at the north east angle a buttress, both presumably connected with the former north chapel. The south aisle east wall has a blocked window with a four-centred head and within it a smaller nineteenth-century window, itself also now blocked.
The exterior of the chancel is of red brick, some of which at the north-east angle bear initials. In the north and south walls are two windows of stone, each consisting of two four-centred lights within a square head, and the east wall is completely blind and featureless.
Building Fabric and Features
Stained Glass
1883
Chancel north: one light, St. Clement.
Stained Glass
1884-1941
South aisle windows, shields of arms, 1884, 1930, 1941, set in clear glass.
Stained Glass
1881
West window of south aisle: Christ the Good Shepherd flanked by The Virgin and Child and a female saint with donor.
Stained Glass
c.1885
West window of north aisle: The Annunciation, The Nativity, and The Epiphany.
Interior
Interior Description
The arcades are of five bays, with arches of one chamfered and one hollow-chamfered order supported on tall octagonal pillars with plainly moulded bases and capitals. The eastern bay is wider, suggesting the former presence of transepts, and was rebuilt in the early fourteenth century. The shafts of the other bays seem to have been heightened, probably also at this time, and the arches re-set. The clerestory has three-light windows which run almost in rhythm with the arcades below. The four-light aisle windows are one less in number than the bays of the arcades and thus do not correspond. At the west end of the nave, the inner face of the tower projects into the church, and contains a small chamber in the ground stage. The upper levels are reached by a vice on the north side and the middle floor has an arch open to the nave which allows light to enter from the west tower window. The nave and aisles are ceiled with flat plaster ceilings, and re-set at the east end of the north aisle is a wall plate. The north aisle is empty, and the three eastern bays of the south aisle are enclosed by an oak screen to form a chapel. The font stands just inside the door at the west end of this aisle.
The chancel arch is very plain, two-centred with two chamfered orders springing from chamfered responds rising to moulded eighteenth century capitals. Although the chancel appears eighteenth-century externally, the interior was remodelled in 1863, at which time wooden tracery was inserted in the windows to give them a crudely Gothic appearance from inside the building, one pair transformed into single light lancets and the other pair with two lights and Y tracery. The blank east wall was later enriched with an oil painting representing Christ in Majesty with the Virgin Mary, twenty-one saints and eight adoring angels. The panelled timber roof is painted with stencilled designs, and the walls were once similarly decorated.
Fixtures and fittings
Altar
The altar is a plain wooden table.
Pulpit
The pulpit is of oak, possibly made up of old panels, octagonal with simple Perpendicular tracery.
Lectern
The lectern is an oak pedestal with reading desk.
Font (object)
The font is Perpendicular, octagonal with double panels on the stem an shields in quatrefoils on the bowl.
Font (component)
The cover is a flat oak lid with scrolling ironwork.
Organ (object)
The organ is by Bryceson Brothers; it has nine speaking stops and are manual, all but the front pipes within a swell box.
Brass
c.1432
Brass to Alan Hobert, Burgess, d.1432; small restored inscription plate.
Brass
c.1658
Brass wall tablet to Phoebe Withnoll d.1658.
Bells
Diameter: 15.25" Bell 2 of 8
Founded by Thomas Osborn 1780
Dove Bell ID: 49731 Tower ID: 17550 - View Tower Listed: No Canons: Removed Cracked: No
Nominal: 1661.7 Hz Weight: 313 lbs Diameter: 22.4" Bell 3 of 8
Founded by Matthew Higby & Co Cast by: Allanconi, 2021
Dove Bell ID: 63056 Tower ID: 17550 - View Tower Listed: No Canons: Removed Turnings: unturned Cracked: No
Nominal: 1482.4 Hz Weight: 336 lbs Diameter: 23.7" Bell 4 of 8
Founded by Matthew Higby & Co Cast by: Allanconi, 2021
Dove Bell ID: 63057 Tower ID: 17550 - View Tower Listed: No Canons: Removed Turnings: unturned Cracked: No
Nominal: 1323 Hz Weight: 363 lbs Diameter: 25.2" Bell 5 of 8
Founded by Matthew Higby & Co Cast by: Allanconi, 2021
Dove Bell ID: 63058 Tower ID: 17550 - View Tower Listed: No Canons: Removed Turnings: unturned Cracked: No
Nominal: 1241.7 Hz Weight: 419 lbs Diameter: 26.42" Bell 6 of 8
Founded by Matthew Higby & Co Cast by: Allanconi, 2021
Dove Bell ID: 63059 Tower ID: 17550 - View Tower Listed: No Canons: Removed Turnings: unturned Cracked: No
Nominal: 1108.7 Hz Weight: 549 lbs Diameter: 29.09" Bell 7 of 8
Founded by Matthew Higby & Co Cast by: Allanconi, 2021
Dove Bell ID: 63060 Tower ID: 17550 - View Tower Listed: No Canons: Removed Turnings: unturned Cracked: No
Nominal: 990 Hz Weight: 711 lbs Diameter: 32.05" Bell 8 of 8
Founded by Matthew Higby & Co Cast by: Allanconi, 2021
Dove Bell ID: 63061 Tower ID: 17550 - View Tower Listed: No Canons: Removed Turnings: unturned Cracked: No
Churchyard
Grid reference: TL 448 588
Burial and War Grave Information
It is unknown whether the building is consecrated.
It is unknown whether the churchyard has been used for burial.
It is unknown whether the churchyard is used for burial.
It is unknown whether the churchyard has war graves.
Environment
Ancient, Veteran & Notable Trees
Caring for God's Acre is a conservation charity working to support groups and individuals to investigate, care for, and enjoy the wildlife and heritage treasures found within churchyards and other burial grounds. Look on their website for information and advice and please contact their staff directly. They can help you manage this churchyard for people and wildlife.
To learn more about all the species recorded against this church, go to the Burial Ground Portal within the NBN Atlas. You can check the spread of records through the years, discovering what has been recorded and when, plus what discoveries might remain to be uncovered.
There are no records of Ancient, Veteran or Notable Trees within the curtilage of this site.
Renewables
| Renewable | Installed |
|---|---|
| Solar PV Panels | No |
| Solar Thermal Panels | No |
| Biomass | No |
| Wind Turbine | No |
| Air Source Heat Pump | No |
| Ground Source Heat Pump | No |
| Ev Charging | No |
Species summary
There are no records of species within the curtilage of this site.
Caring for God's Acre is a conservation charity working to support groups and individuals to investigate, care for, and enjoy the wildlife and heritage treasures found within churchyards and other burial grounds. Look on their website for information and advice and please contact their staff directly. They can help you manage this churchyard for people and wildlife.
To learn more about all the species recorded against this church, go to the Burial Ground Portal within the NBN Atlas. You can check the spread of records through the years, discovering what has been recorded and when, plus what discoveries might remain to be uncovered.
'Seek advice' Species
More information on species and action to be taken upon discovery.
Caring for God's Acre is a conservation charity working to support groups and individuals to investigate, care for, and enjoy the wildlife and heritage treasures found within churchyards and other burial grounds. Look on their website for information and advice and please contact their staff directly. They can help you manage this churchyard for people and wildlife.
To learn more about all the species recorded against this church, go to the Burial Ground Portal within the NBN Atlas. You can check the spread of records through the years, discovering what has been recorded and when, plus what discoveries might remain to be uncovered.
Further information
Quinquennial Inspections
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