- St Michael's Church, Longstanton
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St Michael's Church, Longstanton 
West end of St Michael's Church, Longstanton,Location in Cambridgeshire
St Michael's Church, LongstantonCoordinates: 52°16′23″N 0°03′17″E / 52.2730°N 0.0548°E OS grid reference TL 403 658 Location Longstanton, Cambridgeshire Country England Denomination Anglican Website Churches Conservation Trust Architecture Functional status Redundant Heritage designation Grade II* Designated 31 August 1962 Architectural type Church Style Gothic Specifications Materials Fieldstones with Barnack limestone dressings
Roofs thatched and tiledSt Michael's Church, Longstanton, is a redundant Anglican church in the village of Longstanton, Cambridgeshire, England. It has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade II* listed building,[1] and is under the care of the Churches Conservation Trust.[2] The church stands at the south end of the village.[3] The design of St Michael's was used for that of the Church of St. James the Less in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1846, and was influential in the design of other churches in the American Gothic Revival.[4]
Contents
History
Most of the church dates from the early 13th century.[1] The west wall was rebuilt in the 15th century when two large buttresses and a west window were added. The south porch was built in the earlier part of the same century. In the 19th century the chancel was being used as a schoolroom and was screened from the nave by a curtain.[5] The chancel was demolished in 1883 and rebuilt the following year at a cost of £600 (£46,000 as of 2011).[6][7] Its details were copied with care from the 13th-century design.[5] In 1889 the nave was restored at a cost of £350 (£29,000 as of 2011).[7] The parish of St Michael's was united with that of All Saints in 1958.[8] The two bells in the bellcote were stolen in 1969.[5] St Michael's church was declared redundant in 1973 and vested in the Redundant Churches Fund (the forerunners of the Churches Conservation Trust) in 1975. The thatched roof was restored by the Trust in 2000.[8]
Architecture
Exterior
The church is constructed in fieldstone with Barnack limestone dressings. The roofs of the nave and the south porch are covered in reed thatch and the chancel is tiled.[1] It is one of only two thatched churches in Cambridgeshire.[5] The plan consists of a nave with north and south aisles, a south porch, and a chancel. On the west gable is a double bellcote. Against the west wall of the church are two four-stage buttresses between which is a two-light window. The windows elsewhere include three 19th-century lancets that probably replaced earlier similar windows. The north wall contains a doorway, and some ashlar stone suggesting the presence of earlier openings.[1]
Interior
Inside the church, the arcades date from the 13th century, and are in four bays with arches carried on alternating round and octagonal columns. In the chancel is a double piscina with intersecting arches made from clunch.[1][5] This said to be similar to the piscina in Jesus College Chapel, Cambridge.[2][9]
External features
In the churchyard is a holy well. The was restored in the 1980s, and was dressed for the first time in September 1986.[10][11]
See also
- List of churches preserved by the Churches Conservation Trust in the East of England
References
- ^ a b c d e "Church of St Michael, Longstanton", The National Heritage List for England (English Heritage), 2011, http://list.english-heritage.org.uk/resultsingle.aspx?uid=1127298, retrieved 18 May 2011
- ^ a b St Michael's Church, Long Stanton, Cambridgeshire, Churches Conservation Trust, http://www.visitchurches.org.uk/Ourchurches/Completelistofchurches/St-Michaels-Church-Long-Stanton-Cambridgeshire/, retrieved 25 March 2011
- ^ Longstanton, Streetmap, http://streetmap.co.uk/grid/540182_265904_120, retrieved 28 January 2011
- ^ P. B. Stanton, Gothic Revival and American Church Architecture 1840-56 (Baltimore, 1968:91-114)
- ^ a b c d e Wright, A. P. M.; Lewis, C. P., eds. (1989), "Long Stanton: Churches", A History of the County of Cambridge and the Isle of Ely, Victoria County History (University of London & History of Parliament Trust) 9: pp. 231–236, http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=15419#s1, retrieved 31 January 2011
- ^ UK CPI inflation numbers based on data available from Lawrence H. Officer (2010) "What Were the UK Earnings and Prices Then?" MeasuringWorth.
- ^ a b Kelly's Directory - Cambridgeshire (1929) recorded in Longstanton St. Michael: Church History, GENUKI, http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/CAM/LongstantonStMichael/index.html#Church%20History, retrieved 29 January 2011
- ^ a b St Michael's Church, Longstanton Village Community Groups, http://www.longstantonvillage.org/community-groups-0, retrieved 29 January 2011
- ^ Longstanton, St Michael's Church, Britain Express, http://www.britainexpress.com/attractions.htm?attraction=4112, retrieved 31 January 2011
- ^ Brown, Phyllis, "Holy Well, St Michael's Churchyard, Longstanton, Cambridgeshire", Living Spring Journal (University of Bath), http://people.bath.ac.uk/liskmj/living-spring/sourcearchive/fs7/fs7phb1.htm, retrieved 29 January 2011
- ^ Valentine, Mark (compiler), "New Well Dressing Festival", Living Spring Journal (University of Bath), http://people.bath.ac.uk/liskmj/living-spring/sourcearchive/fs5/fs5mv1.htm, retrieved 29 January 2011
External links
Categories:- Grade II* listed buildings in Cambridgeshire
- Grade II* listed churches
- Church of England churches in Cambridgeshire
- English Gothic architecture
- Churches preserved by the Churches Conservation Trust
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