Churches

St Mary the Virgin, Godmanchester

First written for Let's Talk! Cambridgeshire

It is sometimes said that Cambridgeshire churches have no distinctive style of their own, merely borrowing elements from other nearby regions. But there is surely one thing that strikes the visitor from elsewhere: Here be gargoyles.

Of course, most medieval - or Victorian - churches have carved figures and faces set quaintly about them. In order to claim the name gargoyle, however, they must serve a drainage function.

Here in West Anglia are some of the largest, and most humorous, of medieval gargoyles.

The grand church of Godmanchester, which provides a fine focus for the town, has just two gargoyles of note, but they make a splendid matching pair.

They are oddly placed, jutting from the corners of the south porch, either side of the main entrance, but barely above head-height. It is as if the 14th-century mason who carved them wanted his work to be admired by the townspeople, not stuck away high up where only God could appreciate it.

Perfectly placed to spit on the heads of the congregation as they enter

Inside the church are more delightful carvings, better preserved but less immediately visible. They are to be found under the choir stalls in the chancel.

The lift-up seats, known as misericords, were designed with narrow shelves for monks or priests to rest their bottoms during long periods of standing. Many of the finest medieval carvings in England are to found on misericords, and Godmanchester has a fine set.

Children will enjoy seeking out the hidden animals. They include a rabbit, a monkey, a fox stealing a goose, a cat catching a rat, a beautifully spotted deer fawn, and a pet dog, with a huge collar, sitting on a cushion.

It is generally assumed that these seats were rescued from Ramsey Abbey or Huntingdon Priory at the dissolution of the monasteries in the 1530s. However, if ALL the stalls in local churches said to have come from Ramsey really did, there must have been an awful lot there.

It seems possible these were always in Godmanchester, perhaps for a college of priests - especially as one of the carvings seems to refer to William Stevens, vicar from 1470-81.