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Church History
This part of
Cambridgeshire has some very old and fine
churches. They do not tend to be very large,
as the agricultural land around here is
mostly very heavy clay, and the area in the
medieval period was not particularly
wealthy.
There has been Christian presence in the
area for far longer than the present
churches suggest, even though a good number
of them are seven or eight hundred years
old. The oldest part of any church in the
team must be the area of the chancel arch in
St Michael's Toseland, where the capital has
delightful carving from the late Saxon or
early Norman period. St Helena and St Mary
Bourn, a noble building with a curious
twisted two-step spire, has a tower arch
from the Norman period, though the nave with
its alternating octagonal and round columns
dates from a hundred years or so later.
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Alive and Kicking
These Churches, though often ancient, are still very
much in use. They provide a focus for communities where
there is often no other focus, having lost pubs, shops
and schools over the past few decades. The Churches seek
to be places of welcome and friendship as well as fine
monuments |
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