St Mary's Church, Huntingdon

St Mary's Church

St Mary's Church is located in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, England. The church is said to have been the "Mother Church of Huntingdon". It probably occupies the original site of Huntingdon Priory of Austin Canons, founded here in 1140 by Eustace de Lovetot. It seems to have been used first as a parochial church on the removal of the priory to the east end of the town in the reign of Henry II. In July 1607, the building fell down, but the present church was commenced in March of the following year and was finished in 1620.[1] It is a Grade I listed building.[2][3]

Architecture and fittings

The church consists of chancel, cloistered nave, aisles, south porch and a western tower, of Perpendicular Gothic era. Crocketed pinnacles and buttresses are enriched with panelling and niches. There are eight bells, presented by M. E. Maill in 1876. The nave is divided from the aisles by four arches on each side, supported by round and octagonal columns. Some of the piers, as well as the chancel, exhibit portions of Early English Period and Decorated Gothic work. In 1876, the church was furnished with open oak seats. The nave and the chancel roofs and the stalls in the chancel are also of oak. The stained glass east window, a triplet, was the gift of Archdeacon Vesey. There is a stone pulpit, the gift of the late Earl of Sandwich. The font is Early English, with a plain octagonal bowl, resting on clustered shafts. The whole building was restored in 1876, under the direction of A. W. Blomfield at a cost, exclusive of special gifts, of over £2,000. There is a monument to the family of De Carcassonett, erected in 1749, and one erected by the officers of the 31st (Huntingdonshire) Regiment, to the memory of their comrades who fell in the Crimean War. The church has sittings for 550 persons. The register of St. Mary's dates from the year 1593.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 Kelly, Edward Robert (1885). Kelly's directory of Bedfordshire, Hunts and Northamptonshire, with maps. (Public domain ed.). pp. 207–. Retrieved 2 December 2011.
  2. ↑ "Church of St Mary, Huntingdon". British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  3. ↑ Historic England. "Church of St Mary  (Grade I) (1161910)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 19 January 2015.

Coordinates: 52°19′44″N 0°10′49″W / 52.3289°N 0.1804°W / 52.3289; -0.1804

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