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Stone church with a steep pitched roof and pointed gothic windows, viewed behind a black metal fence and green foliage.

St Mary the Less, Cambridge

St Mary the Less (Little St Mary’s), Cambridge

History of Little St Mary's

Originally St Peter-without-Trumpington-Gate, it served as Peterhouse college chapel until 1632.

Further information can be found on Wikipedia.


Railings, gates and gas lamp are listed 


An interesting feature is the memorial to Godfrey Washington, Fellow of Peterhouse and vicar of the church; he was the great uncle of George Washington, first president of the USA.


Professor of Botany and Minerology, John Stevens Henslow, was curate from 1824 to 1832.

Sepia-toned portrait of a middle-aged man with light hair and mutton-chop sideburns wearing a dark coat and cravat.

John Stevens Henslow (MoC418/56)

Portrait of a man with light hair and sideburns, wearing a dark coat and cravat, sitting in a chair with his hands visible.

J S Henslow, 1859

Etching of a church gable with a large arched window, a metal fence in the foreground, and a man with a dog standing nearby.

St Mary the Less, R Farren 1881

John Henslow had pointed out in 1845 that it was thought a stratum of Greensand, only a foot thick, occurred widely round Cambridge.  Henslow believed these deposits to be coprolite at first though changed his mind later. However he did consider them to be economically valuable. It was the discovered of these deposits in Burwell in 1851 that sparked off the coprolite rush.


A stained glass quatrefoil window features a central shield displaying the letters A, T, and E in black against a gold ground.

A E Tombleson monogram

A E Tombleson was the stained glass artist behind several of the windows.


1930s – 1950s:

This was the home of the 11th Cambridge St Paul’s Scouts (pack). They moved here from 61 Panton Street.


A stone church tower rises behind dense, bare-branched trees and overgrown greenery in a quiet, overcast cemetery setting.

Little St Mary churchyard (RGL2023)

Tags

  • Boy Scouts
  • church
  • Church of England
  • coprolite
  • Listed building
  • Scouting
  • stained glass

Projects

  • Trumpington Street

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Licence

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