Parts of the parish church of Saint Mary and Saint Michael in Trumpington date from the mid-13th century (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2015)
Patrick Comerford
Trumpington, where I am staying this weekend, is about 3 km south of Cambridge city, is often overshadowed by nearby Grantchester, with its picture-postcard prettiness and its literary associations with Rupert Brooke.
Until the 20th century, Trumpington was an agricultural village with cattle and sheep as well as crops. Although most of Trumpington became part of the Cambridge city area in 1934, it has its own parish church and has existed as a separate parish from Anglo-Saxon times until the 20th century.
There is evidence of Iron Age and Roman settlements in Trumpington, near the ford on the River Cam by the road to Grantchester, and of a Roman cemetery. An Anglo-Saxon cemetery has also been found nearby at Dam Hill.
In 2012, archaeologists working in a field at Trumpington Meadows on the outskirts of the village found a seventh century Anglo-Saxon bed burial of a young woman aged about 16. She was buried on a wooden bed, and on her breast she had an ornate, jewelled gold pectoral cross inlaid with garnets. The cross indicates a member of a rich aristocratic family, and the grave may have been part of an Anglo-Saxon monastic community.
The Parish of Trumpington existed long before the Norman Conquest and has been known by several spellings. By 1086, in the time of the Domesday Book, there was a thriving community of 33 people here. The population had risen to 100 by the late 13th century, and the village was sizeable throughout the Middle Ages.
Although the original dedication of the church is unknown, many churches had their dedication changed to Saint Nicholas in the early Middle Ages and Trumpington Church was known by this name in 1291. The church was mainly built in 1200-1330. One of the oldest parts of the church is the stone at the base of a pillar, at the back of the nave, laid in 1200. The monumental brass of Sir Roger de Trumpington, a crusader knight, with the date 1289, is reputedly the second oldest brass in England.
The elaborate double piscina on the south side of the sanctuary (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2015)
On the south side of the sanctuary there is an elaborate double piscina. Pope Innocent III ordered the construction of these in churches in 1216. These basins, which drain into earth, are for washing the priest’s hands before celebrating the Eucharist and for draining off the water used to wash the sacred vessels afterwards.
The single piscina in the south chapel (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2015)
As a single piscina was considered sufficient for both functions after 1300, so this part of the church can be dated to the 13th century. Examples of a single piscina can be found in both the north and south chapels.
The nave was rebuilt in 1339, and there were several attempts in the 14th century to determine the true direction of East, which has resulted in the chancel and the tower not being in line.
Documents later in the Middle Ages refer to the church as Saint Mary and Saint Michael, and this dedication continues to this day.
In the Middle Ages the church was endowed with stained glass and the walls were plastered and probably painted. Although much of the glass depicting saints and biblical figures was destroyed at the Reformation, heraldic motifs and purely decorative glass survived largely intact.
Some surviving mediaeval glass on the south side of the chancel (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2015)
The wooden rood screen, at the entrance to the chancel, dates from the 15th century. The top of the rood screen was roughly sawn off during the Reformation, when these screens were seen as barriers between the priest and people.
The pulpit, was which was given to the church in 1677 by Thomas Allen, came from the old chapel of Emmanuel College after Christopher Wren designed the present college chapel. Originally, it was a three-decker pulpit with sounding board and stood in front of the first pillar in the nave.
There is a restored tomb canopy with a coffin lid on the chancel wall, possibly to a member of the Trumpington family.
Trumpington’s parish church was renovated by William Butterfield in 1876, when the original Barnack stone was partly refaced with Bath stone, the roof was replaced, the walls were replastered, and the box pews were also repaired and replaced.
The church has a memorial window to Henry Fawcett (1833-1884). Although he was blinded in an accident when he was 25, he became the first Professor of Political Economy in Cambridge, an MP, and Postmaster-General in Gladstone’s government, when he introduced parcel post.
There are headstones to the Maris family near the south porch and memorials to the Pemberton and Foster families to the right.
Past Vicars of Trumpington include Edmund Cosin, (1510/1511-1574?), college head, William Palmer (1538/9-1605), John Palmer (died 1607), Dean of Peterborough, William Dakins, (1568/9-1607), biblical scholar, John Overall (1561-1619), Bishop of Norwich, John Hacket (1592-1670), who as Bishop of Lichfield restored Lichfield Cathedral, John Hailstone (1759-1847), geologist, John Grote (1813-1866), William Saumarez Smith (1836-1909), Archbishop of Sydney, the Revd AC Moule (1873-1957), a former missionary in China, and the Revd David Maddox (1922-1997), who was Vicar in 1956-1990.
The old churchyard includes many 18th and 19th century graves, including the grave of Sir George Howard Darwin (1845-1912), son of Charles Darwin, mathematician and geophysicist.
Today, when visitors to Cambridge think of “Trumpington” and “church” they inevitably think of the Church of Saint Mary the Less (“LSM”) on the corner of Trumpington Street and Little Saint Mary’s Lane, next to Peterhouse. But the older Church of Saint Mary and Saint Michael in Trumpington itself is also worth a visit.
Mediaeval traces can be found throughout the church in Trumpington (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2015)
30 August 2015
A weekend in Trumpington, a country
village on the edges of Cambridge
The charms of Trumpington are often overshadowed by the popularity of neighbouring Grantchester(Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2015)
Patrick Comerford
Before moving into into Sidney Sussex College tomorrow for the course organised by the Institute for Orthodox Christian Studies, I am staying outside Cambridge for the weekend in the Lord Byron Inn in Trumpington.
Trumpington is almost fully integrated into Cambridge, and its charms are often overlooked by visitors to Cambridge and overshadowed by the popularity of neighbouring Grantchester, with its associations with the poet Rupert Brooke.
This afternoon [29 August 2015], I strolled through Trumpington village, which first developed around the junction of one route from the south towards Cambridge and another from the south-east to the ford to Grantchester. The earliest evidence of the village is a group of Saxon houses and graves excavated four years ago [2011], just south of the church.
By 1000, the local parishes and villages were well established. In the Domesday Book, 1086, Trumpington had 37 households, four manors and a mill. The focus was the church and the nearby manors, one of which was owned by the Trumpington family, whose memorial was placed in the church in the 1320s.
In 1314, the lord of the manor, Giles of Trumpington, was given permission to hold a three-day fair on the feast of Saint Peter in Chains, 1 August. The feast was still held in the 19th century although it was transferred to 28-30 June. It became known for the rowdiness and drunkenness of its many visitors. It was reduced to only one day, 29 June, in 1882 and was still held in the 1930s.
Geoffrey Chaucer sets The Reeve’s Tale in Trumpington, and mentions the water mill on the Cam, believed to be Old Mill Holt on the river to the south-west of the village.
By the late 1400s, the village had a green bounded by a triangle of roads with a village cross at its northern apex and another open area to the west of the cross.
By 1801, Trumpington had 494 residents. By the time the parish was dissolved there were around 1,200 inhabitants.
The parish was enclosed by Act of Parliament in 1809. Two manors had already been consolidated into two estates – the Pemberton estate at Trumpington Hall and the Anstey estate at Anstey Hall – and these were allocated most of the land.
Anstey Hall Farm ... on of the surviving ancient farms in Trumpington (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2015)
In the early 1900s, the heart of the village was three working farms – Manor Farm, Church Farm and Anstey Hall Farm – and the usual ancillary services, including a village blacksmith. Although houses had been built on the village green and on either side of the High Street, the village was still compact and surrounded by farmland.
It was only in the mid-1900s that housing spread over the farm fields east of the High Street and east of the road to Cambridge, while the fields to the west and south-west were still used for farming.
Eric Gill (1882-1940), the artist, craftsman and social critic, designed the Trumpington War Memorial after World War I.
Trumpington Hall ... in the hands of the Pemberton family since the 17th century (Photograph: Patrick Comerford,2015)
The most interesting houses in the village are probably Trumpington Hall and Anstey Hall.
The Trumpington family were the local landowners in the 13th and 14th centuries. Thomas Chaplin or Chaplen was the Lord of the Manor of Trumpington in the early 1600s.
The Pemberton family, who were the owners of Trumpington Hall from the 17th century, and lived in Trumpington Hall for over 300 years.
The family originated in Pemberton, Lancashire, but the direct line of the family is traced to Robert Pemberton, who was born in St Albans in 1523. He married Catherine Stokes in 1549 and they had 11 children, only two of whom reached the age of 21. The only surviving son, Roger, was born in 1554 and married Elizabeth More in 1579.
Elizabeth lived to the age of 85 in 1645. Roger went to Saint John’s College, Cambridge, matriculating in 1572. He inherited the estate in St Albans and died in 1627.
Their son, Ralph Pemberton (1588-1644), was Mayor of St Albans in 1627 and 1638, and was ancestor of the Cambridgeshire branch of the family.
Ralph Pemberton’s eldest son, Sir Francis Pemberton (1625-1697), was the most distinguished member of the family. He was an undergraduate at Emmanuel College and Peterhouse, entered the Middle Temple in 1645 and was called to the Bar in 1654. But he went on to become Chief Justice and a Privy Councillor in 1682. He was a lawyer in the trial of the Seven Bishops that indirectly led to the downfall of King James II.
A Pemberton family monument in Trumpington Parish Church (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2015)
Sir Francis Pemberton bought Trumpington Hall and 1,000 acres for 1,000 gold guineas in 1675. However, he never lived in Trumpington as the estate was subject to a life interest of the widow of the vendor, Thomas Pitcher.
Francis Pemberton (1675-1762), the eldest son of Sir Francis Pemberton, was educated at Eton and King’s College, Cambridge, and built the present Trumpington Hall.
The Revd Jeremy Pemberton of Trumpington Hall was the father of Jeremy Pemberton (1741-1788), who became the Chief Justice of Nova Scotia. His brother, Francis Pemberton (1742-1794) was Mayor of Bombay and tried to buy the Anstey estate so that his family would own all of Trumpington.
Pemberton family heraldic memories in Trumpington Parish Church (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2015)
When the Revd Jeremy Pemberton died in 1800, the estate passed to his grandson, Francis Charles James Pemberton (1781-1849, who was born in India and died in France. He made extensive changes to Trumpington Hall.
Patience Pemberton (1844-1929), who inherited Trumpington Hall in 1879, married Canon Thomas Percy Hudson in 1870. They both took the Pemberton name when she inherited the estate and moved to Trumpington in 1900. He was a Canon of York Minster, a gifted musician and the founder of the Hovingham Music Festival.
He was living at Trumpington Hall when he turned the offer of becoming Master of Magdalene College – the present Master of Magdalene is the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams. He declined on the grounds that Trumpington Hall was more comfortable, but he took part in the vote to admit women to Cambridge University in 1920, being wheeled to the Senate House in a bath chair.
During World War II, Trumpington Hall was used as a military hospital.
The The Trumpington Estate manages many of the farms in Trumpington, Grantchester and the surrounding villages (Photographs: Patrick Comerford, 2015)
Today, the 1,300 hectare estate, with Trumpington Hall at its centre, is still privately owned. Although agriculture is still at the heart of the estate, in recent years it has diversified to include residential and commercial property, and enterprises such as DIY, livery yards, fishing syndicates and a public house.
Last year, the estate hosted the annual Addenbrooke’s Garden Party and welcomed hundreds of people to events held on Grantchester Meadow, made famous by the poet Rupert Brooke and more recently by Pink Floyd.
The estate runs farm walks and other activities on the farm from time to time. To take part, contact the farm at info@trumpingtonestate.com .
Anstey Hall, built ca 1700, is now a popular wedding venue (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2015)
Anstey Hall was built ca 1700, and the Anstey family were the owners of Anstey Hall until 1838. It was once the home of the writer and poet Christopher Anstey and later of Robert Leslie Ellis (1817-59), mathematician and classical scholar. The Foster family were the owners of Anstey Hall from 1838 to 1941.
Trumpington’s association with agriculture was extended further in 1955, when the Plant Breeding Institute – founded as part of the University of Cambridge, was based at Anstey Hall from 1955 to 1990. It is now a popular wedding venue and conference location.
Trumpington still feels and looks like a country village (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2015)
Patrick Comerford
Before moving into into Sidney Sussex College tomorrow for the course organised by the Institute for Orthodox Christian Studies, I am staying outside Cambridge for the weekend in the Lord Byron Inn in Trumpington.
Trumpington is almost fully integrated into Cambridge, and its charms are often overlooked by visitors to Cambridge and overshadowed by the popularity of neighbouring Grantchester, with its associations with the poet Rupert Brooke.
This afternoon [29 August 2015], I strolled through Trumpington village, which first developed around the junction of one route from the south towards Cambridge and another from the south-east to the ford to Grantchester. The earliest evidence of the village is a group of Saxon houses and graves excavated four years ago [2011], just south of the church.
By 1000, the local parishes and villages were well established. In the Domesday Book, 1086, Trumpington had 37 households, four manors and a mill. The focus was the church and the nearby manors, one of which was owned by the Trumpington family, whose memorial was placed in the church in the 1320s.
In 1314, the lord of the manor, Giles of Trumpington, was given permission to hold a three-day fair on the feast of Saint Peter in Chains, 1 August. The feast was still held in the 19th century although it was transferred to 28-30 June. It became known for the rowdiness and drunkenness of its many visitors. It was reduced to only one day, 29 June, in 1882 and was still held in the 1930s.
Geoffrey Chaucer sets The Reeve’s Tale in Trumpington, and mentions the water mill on the Cam, believed to be Old Mill Holt on the river to the south-west of the village.
By the late 1400s, the village had a green bounded by a triangle of roads with a village cross at its northern apex and another open area to the west of the cross.
By 1801, Trumpington had 494 residents. By the time the parish was dissolved there were around 1,200 inhabitants.
The parish was enclosed by Act of Parliament in 1809. Two manors had already been consolidated into two estates – the Pemberton estate at Trumpington Hall and the Anstey estate at Anstey Hall – and these were allocated most of the land.
Anstey Hall Farm ... on of the surviving ancient farms in Trumpington (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2015)
In the early 1900s, the heart of the village was three working farms – Manor Farm, Church Farm and Anstey Hall Farm – and the usual ancillary services, including a village blacksmith. Although houses had been built on the village green and on either side of the High Street, the village was still compact and surrounded by farmland.
It was only in the mid-1900s that housing spread over the farm fields east of the High Street and east of the road to Cambridge, while the fields to the west and south-west were still used for farming.
Eric Gill (1882-1940), the artist, craftsman and social critic, designed the Trumpington War Memorial after World War I.
Trumpington Hall ... in the hands of the Pemberton family since the 17th century (Photograph: Patrick Comerford,2015)
The most interesting houses in the village are probably Trumpington Hall and Anstey Hall.
The Trumpington family were the local landowners in the 13th and 14th centuries. Thomas Chaplin or Chaplen was the Lord of the Manor of Trumpington in the early 1600s.
The Pemberton family, who were the owners of Trumpington Hall from the 17th century, and lived in Trumpington Hall for over 300 years.
The family originated in Pemberton, Lancashire, but the direct line of the family is traced to Robert Pemberton, who was born in St Albans in 1523. He married Catherine Stokes in 1549 and they had 11 children, only two of whom reached the age of 21. The only surviving son, Roger, was born in 1554 and married Elizabeth More in 1579.
Elizabeth lived to the age of 85 in 1645. Roger went to Saint John’s College, Cambridge, matriculating in 1572. He inherited the estate in St Albans and died in 1627.
Their son, Ralph Pemberton (1588-1644), was Mayor of St Albans in 1627 and 1638, and was ancestor of the Cambridgeshire branch of the family.
Ralph Pemberton’s eldest son, Sir Francis Pemberton (1625-1697), was the most distinguished member of the family. He was an undergraduate at Emmanuel College and Peterhouse, entered the Middle Temple in 1645 and was called to the Bar in 1654. But he went on to become Chief Justice and a Privy Councillor in 1682. He was a lawyer in the trial of the Seven Bishops that indirectly led to the downfall of King James II.
A Pemberton family monument in Trumpington Parish Church (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2015)
Sir Francis Pemberton bought Trumpington Hall and 1,000 acres for 1,000 gold guineas in 1675. However, he never lived in Trumpington as the estate was subject to a life interest of the widow of the vendor, Thomas Pitcher.
Francis Pemberton (1675-1762), the eldest son of Sir Francis Pemberton, was educated at Eton and King’s College, Cambridge, and built the present Trumpington Hall.
The Revd Jeremy Pemberton of Trumpington Hall was the father of Jeremy Pemberton (1741-1788), who became the Chief Justice of Nova Scotia. His brother, Francis Pemberton (1742-1794) was Mayor of Bombay and tried to buy the Anstey estate so that his family would own all of Trumpington.
Pemberton family heraldic memories in Trumpington Parish Church (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2015)
When the Revd Jeremy Pemberton died in 1800, the estate passed to his grandson, Francis Charles James Pemberton (1781-1849, who was born in India and died in France. He made extensive changes to Trumpington Hall.
Patience Pemberton (1844-1929), who inherited Trumpington Hall in 1879, married Canon Thomas Percy Hudson in 1870. They both took the Pemberton name when she inherited the estate and moved to Trumpington in 1900. He was a Canon of York Minster, a gifted musician and the founder of the Hovingham Music Festival.
He was living at Trumpington Hall when he turned the offer of becoming Master of Magdalene College – the present Master of Magdalene is the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams. He declined on the grounds that Trumpington Hall was more comfortable, but he took part in the vote to admit women to Cambridge University in 1920, being wheeled to the Senate House in a bath chair.
During World War II, Trumpington Hall was used as a military hospital.
The The Trumpington Estate manages many of the farms in Trumpington, Grantchester and the surrounding villages (Photographs: Patrick Comerford, 2015)
Today, the 1,300 hectare estate, with Trumpington Hall at its centre, is still privately owned. Although agriculture is still at the heart of the estate, in recent years it has diversified to include residential and commercial property, and enterprises such as DIY, livery yards, fishing syndicates and a public house.
Last year, the estate hosted the annual Addenbrooke’s Garden Party and welcomed hundreds of people to events held on Grantchester Meadow, made famous by the poet Rupert Brooke and more recently by Pink Floyd.
The estate runs farm walks and other activities on the farm from time to time. To take part, contact the farm at info@trumpingtonestate.com .
Anstey Hall, built ca 1700, is now a popular wedding venue (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2015)
Anstey Hall was built ca 1700, and the Anstey family were the owners of Anstey Hall until 1838. It was once the home of the writer and poet Christopher Anstey and later of Robert Leslie Ellis (1817-59), mathematician and classical scholar. The Foster family were the owners of Anstey Hall from 1838 to 1941.
Trumpington’s association with agriculture was extended further in 1955, when the Plant Breeding Institute – founded as part of the University of Cambridge, was based at Anstey Hall from 1955 to 1990. It is now a popular wedding venue and conference location.
Trumpington still feels and looks like a country village (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2015)
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