Highways and Byways in Cambridge and Ely Part 23

In looking southward from Sutton Church, three steeples are specially conspicuous in the Ouse valley. They are those of Over, Swavesey, and Willingham. All are churches of the first cla.s.s, and all are best reached from Cambridge by way of the Via Devana, which, after crossing the "Great Bridge" and climbing the ascent past the Castle, continues its straight course to the north-west under the designation of the Huntingdon Road. Just as it leaves the town a branch-road on the right leads to the village of Histon, which the jam factories of Messrs.

Chivers have made one of the most flouris.h.i.+ng in the county. The church here has some good Early English work, and a remarkable "Rood"

(much defaced) on the gable of the S. transept. This is an almost unique example of the early "Majestas" type of crucifix (p. 339).

Christ, with outspread arms, wears, not the Crown of Thorns, but the Old English "king-helm," and is fully robed. About 1200 this ideal type gave place to the later "realistic" crucifix.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Sutton Church._]

A mile beyond the last houses of Cambridge the Via Devana comes to the huge red-brick ma.s.s of Girton College, which has been already spoken of.[193] Its s.p.a.cious grounds and never-ending corridors impress the mind with admiration for the enthusiasm and energy which has thus materialised Tennyson's vision of University education for women. At this point another northward turn takes us to Girton Church, where there are good bra.s.ses to two successive fifteenth century parsons. In their day the living belonged to Ramsey Abbey, by the gift of Eric, Bishop of Dorchester (1016). We next come to Oakington, the Mecca of Cambridges.h.i.+re Free Churchmen. For here, in the quiet little Nonconformist Cemetery, rest, side by side, the three men to whom the chief sects of the county trace their spiritual ancestry--Francis Holcroft, Joseph Oddy, and Henry Oasland.

[Footnote 193: See p. 144.]

The first named was a Fellow of Clare College where he had for his "chum" (_i.e._ chamber-mate, as we find the word used in "Pickwick") Tillotson, the future Archbishop of Canterbury. He began his ministerial career by taking on himself to supply the place of a brother collegian, the Puritan minister in charge of Littlington, near Royston, who, most un-Puritanically, was often incapacitated by drink from performing his duties. Later, in 1655, when still only twenty-two, he himself became pastor of the adjoining parish of Ba.s.singbourn. When the "Black Bartholomew" of 1662 deprived him of this charge under the Act of Uniformity, he preached, at the risk of fine and imprisonment, throughout the neighbourhood, binding together his adherents in a loosely-knit organisation, whose members were admitted on subscribing the following Profession of Faith:

"We do in the presence of the Lord Jesus, the awful crowned King of Sion, and in the presence of his holy angels and people and all besides here present, solemnly give up ourselves to the Lord and to one another, by the will of G.o.d, solemnly promising and engaging in the aforesaid presence to walk with the Lord and with one another in the observation of all Gospel ordinances, and the discharge of all relative duties in this church of G.o.d and elsewhere, as the Lord shall enlighten us and enable us."[194]

[Footnote 194: _Cambs. Monthly Repository X._]

His efforts were vigorously seconded by Oddy and Oasland, whose consciences, like his own, would not permit them to use the Anglican Prayer Book; and the units of this embryo Church, who were often spoken of at the time as "Mr. Holcroft's disciples," became widely spread throughout the county. Already, before the end of 1662, they had regular meetings at Barrington, Eversden, Waterbeach, and Guyhirn, as well as Cambridge; and when, ten years later, they became licensed by the King's Proclamation of Indulgence, we find the number increased fourfold. So far Nonconformity had been the only bond between these scattered bands of wors.h.i.+ppers; but they now began to differentiate themselves into Baptist, Independent, and Presbyterian Congregations, though the lines were not as yet sharply drawn, and, indeed, are not even now sharply drawn in the country villages, where a man is "Church" or "Chapel," caring little what may be the precise denomination of his chapel. The strength of the Dissenting spirit thus implanted at Oakington may be measured by that of the language employed by the zealous Archdeacon of Ely, who, in 1685, declares this to be "the most scandalous parish and the worst in the diocese. The people most vile. A Fanatic Schoolmaster."

From Oakington the lane leads on to Long Stanton, where the two churches of St. Michael and All Saints are both noteworthy. The former is a simple Early English building with a _thatched_ roof (till lately made of reeds from the fen, a far more durable material than straw, but now un.o.btainable), a rich double piscina, and an oak chest dating from the twelfth century. The latter, at the other end of the "long"

village street, is a Decorated cruciform structure, the south transept having become the mortuary chapel of the Hatton family, who bought the lords.h.i.+p of the manor from Queen Elizabeth.

That rapacious monarch, her father's worthy daughter in ecclesiastical spoliation, had seized upon it amongst the surrenders which she exacted from Bishop c.o.x, the first Protestant to be Bishop of Ely. On his accession she confiscated a full half of his episcopal property, and was constantly insisting on further denudations, including Ely House, Holborn. On this final act of despotism goading him into remonstrance, she is reported (in Strype's _History of the Reformation_) to have made the well-known reply, "Proud priest! I made you. And I will unmake you. Obey my pleasure, or I will forthwith unfrock you." Only his speedy death (in 1581) prevented her from actually carrying out this threat. After it she kept the whole property of the See in her own hands for no less than nineteen years, when she handed it over to Bishop Heton, shorn of yet another moiety, which included the Manor of Longstanton with its ancient episcopal palace.

This palace had a further connection with Elizabeth; for in it she was entertained by Bishop c.o.x after that visit to Cambridge in 1564, when her erudition so thrilled the University.[195] And it was here that she was disgusted by the blasphemous entertainment got up for her benefit by the Protestant undergraduates, in which a performing dog danced with a consecrated Host in his mouth. King's College Chapel was the scene originally intended for this outrage; but the graver academic programme there lasted so long that the Queen could not stay for the afterpiece. The disappointed students begged leave to follow her and give an evening performance at Long Stanton. Mutual disgust was the result. As soon as Elizabeth understood what was going on she indignantly swept from the room, ordering every light to be instantly extinguished, leaving the wretched boys to grope for their properties and get back to Cambridge as best they could.

[Footnote 195: When praised for loveliness by the Public Orator she showed, to the loud admiration of her auditors, that she both understood and spoke Latin by exclaiming coyly "Non est verum."]

[Ill.u.s.tration: _All Saints' Church, Long Stanton._]

Following the road to Long Stanton station (six and a half miles), we there cross the G. E. R. (St. Ives Branch) and proceed, along a somewhat dreary stretch, to Willingham (nine miles), where an exceptionally fine church (All Saints) rewards our toil. After lingering in neglect and decay for years beyond the neighbouring churches, it has now become an ideal example of judicious restoration, very different from the drastic process too often known by that name.

Every ancient feature and development has been preserved, including the beautiful roof,[196] with its elaborate carving, its tiers of angels and its double hammer beams, the fine parclose screens, and the Perpendicular pulpit. Beneath the clerestory may be seen traces of no fewer than four successive layers of frescoes, which, from the twelfth to the seventeenth century, each in turn adorned the walls. But the most striking feature of the church is the small Decorated "treasury"

adjoining the north wall of the chancel. It is wholly of stone, even to the roof with its richly wrought "beams"; an almost unique example of this method of treatment. Dowsing here destroyed, on 16 March, 1643, "forty superst.i.tious pictures, a crucifix, and two superst.i.tious inscriptions, also two pictures of the Holy Ghost and one of the Virgin Mary in bra.s.s."

[Footnote 196: This roof is traditionally said to have been that of the great church of Barnwell Abbey (see p. 160). It obviously was made for a larger nave than that of Willingham, and has been cut down to fit its present purpose.]

From Willingham a field road will take us, if desired, to Belsar's Hill,[197] which, besides its historical a.s.sociations, is rich in the pretty crystals of selenite or gypsum. And though, as has been said, the track is now all but disused, it is still possible to follow the Conqueror's causeway to the Ouse and get ferried over to Aldreth.

[Footnote 197: See p. 283.]

The next turn on the Via Devana is the southward lane to Madingley, already described. Southward also lie Lolworth, Boxworth and Elsworth.

The last has an exceptionally fine church, Decorated throughout, and displaying the almost unique feature of small lockers for books in the fourteenth century stalls. Conington, near the road on the same side, has a stone-ribbed spire containing three mediaeval bells--a rare survival. They bear the following inscriptions:

1. a.s.sVMPTA . EST . MARIA . IN . CELIS . GAVDENT . ANGELI LAVDANTES . BENEDICVNT . DOMINVM.

Mary is taken up to Heaven. The Angels are glad.

They praise and bless the Lord.

2. SANCTA . MARIA . ORA . PRO . n.o.bIS Holy Mary pray for us.

3. VIRGO . CORONATA . DVC . NOS . AD . REGNA . BEATA .

O crowned Maid lead us to realms of bliss.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Over, South Porch._]

Northward we find the magnificent churches of Swavesey and Over already mentioned. The former is one of the n.o.blest in Cambridges.h.i.+re.

The nave is Perpendicular, but the large windows in the south aisle are really Early English lancets, the Perpendicular tracery being inserted--a most unusual development. The finials of the fourteenth century benches are to be noticed, especially in the north aisle, where they take the form of grotesque animals. The small size of these seats suggests that they were meant for children. The little ones would be charmed with these delightful finials, representing 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 upon a dulcimer.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Over._]

At Over every feature of the church is noteworthy. It is entirely built of Barnack stone, richly ornamented externally with running ball-flower patterns. The southern porch is beautifully proportioned, and the gargoyles extraordinary specimens of birds and beasts, apparently under the same inspiration as the Swavesey finials. Over the west door is a sculpture (almost weathered out of knowledge) of Our Lady in Glory, a very rare subject; also the arms of Ramsey Abbey, to which the benefice was presented by Ednoth, Bishop of Dorchester, who lies buried in Bishop West's chapel at Ely.[198] The tracery in general is Decorated, but the spire rises from an Early English tower, and the chancel is also Early English, with inserted Perpendicular windows. The Sanctus Bell[199] still hangs over the eastern gable of the nave. The interior woodwork is of the best, the roof is Decorated, and there is an exceptionally good sixteenth century pulpit. The arcading above the windows of the south aisle, with its banded Early English shafts, is another beautiful feature here. On some of the churchyard tombstones wall-rue may be found growing, a rare sight in this neighbourhood. From Over a lane leads on, crossing the Hundred Foot Bank to Overcote, that fascinating Ferry Inn upon the Ouse whose charms have already been dwelt upon.

[Footnote 198: See Chap. XVII.]

[Footnote 199: See p. 231.]

Formerly, as we have said, the regular road from Cambridge to Ely was by way of the Causeway at Aldreth. But this roundabout route of over twenty miles compared unfavourably with the shorter line taken by the Cam, which was accordingly the favourite for such as could afford boat-hire. In the eighteenth century regular packet-boats ran daily between the two places, drawn by horses. To-day the only pa.s.sengers on the river are pleasure-seekers, and the ordinary way to Ely from Cambridge is by the road supposed to represent the hypothetical Akeman Street of Roman days.[200] This road turns northwards round Magdalene College, and runs through the suburb of New Chesterton. Old Chesterton stands on the river, east of the road, and has a finely-proportioned steeple, with particularly melodious bells, and a slender spire. At this point is the winning-post of the College boat races.[201] On the opposite bank, a mile lower down the stream, is Fen Ditton, the "Ditch End" where the Fleam d.y.k.e strikes the river.[202] Ditton Corner, just beneath the parish church, is the favourite spot for seeing these races, as it commands a view of two long reaches, and is also (as a bend in the stream must needs be) a highly probable spot for b.u.mps.

[Footnote 200: See p. 252.]

[Footnote 201: See p. 146].

[Footnote 202: See p. 170.]

Leaving these to the right, we reach Milton, whence the poet's family name is said to be derived, and where the church has seventeenth century altar rails, a very rare possession. Just opposite, with a ferry between, is Horningsea, where there is another good church.

Between this and Fen Ditton is an ancient building, now used for farm purposes, which the Ordnance Map marks as "Biggin Abbey." An abbey, however, it never was, being only one (and the smallest) of the many scattered mansions of the Abbot and Bishop of Ely. On the stream beside it is Baitsbite Lock, the starting-point of the boat races.

Here along the towing path may be seen the posts, set at regular intervals on the brink of the stream, to which each boat is moored by the "starting cord" held in the c.o.xswain's[203] hand. He must not let it go till the gun is fired. Thrilling moments pa.s.s while he counts aloud the last seconds--"five ... four ... three ... two ... one," and the muscles of the crew grow ever tenser, till, at the signal, he flings the cord into the water, and every oar strains its utmost in the first stroke.

[Footnote 203: This word is invariably abbreviated to "c.o.x," which is also used as a verb.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Swavesey._]

The next lock is Clayhithe, two miles further down the river, with an inn beside it in special favour for Cambridge boating pic-nics. Here, too, is the lowest bridge over the Cam, indeed the only one below Cambridge. It belongs to a private company, and is rigorously tolled.

A pretty shady lane leads to it from Horningsea. Hard by, on the left bank, are the villages of Waterbeach and Landbeach. They are respectively four and twelve furlongs from the stream, and mark successive boundaries of the fenland waters. Between them runs an ancient earthwork, the Car d.y.k.e (probably of Roman date), which of old kept those waters in flood time from drowning the meadows to the south. Starting from the Cam at Clayhithe it runs along the whole western limit of the fenland. It reaches the Ouse near the large village of Cottenham (where the east window of the fourteenth century church is copied from one in Prior Crauden's Chapel at Ely) with over 2,000 inhabitants, and goes on past the tiny and picturesque Rampton, with under 200, to Willingham and Earith, Ramsey and Peterborough, Deeping and Sleaford; finally ending its long course on the banks of the far off Witham, hard by Lincoln.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Swavesey Church._]

For a mile or so our "Akeman Street" follows the course of the Car d.y.k.e, and then strikes northward across the fen, along a causeway of its own, pa.s.sing near the remains of Denny Abbey, a small foundation which pa.s.sed through unusual vicissitudes. Originally a Benedictine House, it was transferred in the twelfth century to the Templars, and in 1290, pa.s.sed from them to the Minor Sisters of the Franciscan order. Marie de Valence, the foundress of Pembroke College, was a noted benefactress to Denny, and in her statutes solemnly enjoined on the scholars of the former inst.i.tution "kindness" towards the recluses of the latter. The abbey is now a farm, but there are more remains of the monastic buildings here than almost anywhere else in the county.

Much of the church is built into the farm house, and the refectory is in use as a barn. Many old walls and d.y.k.es may be traced, while a large entrenchment to the south is known as "Soldiers' Hill." This name may be due to the Templars.

Two miles further we cross the old bed of the Ouse (containing now only such scanty waters as the Bedford rivers have left to it) at Elford, and enter the Isle of Ely. The ramp of the Island, however, lies two miles further on yet. We climb it by the village street of Stretham, where the ancient Town Cross still exists, an interesting and rare feature. It stands hard by the church, which contains various ancient tombstones, one to Nicholas de Ryngestone, rector under Edward the First, and a late fifteenth century bra.s.s to Dame Joan Rippingham, mother of two other rectors. A later rector was ejected in 1644 "for having made new steps to the altar, himself bowing twice as he went up, and as often while he came down." The church was an ancient possession of Ely, but was reft from the See by Elizabeth. Stretham lies at the extreme end of the little peninsular ridge on which Wilburton and Haddenham stand.[204] Beyond it we sink to the enclosed inlet of Grunty Fen, pa.s.sing the hamlet of Little Thetford, and rise again to the higher ground where the towers of Ely greet our eyes, a little over a mile away.