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St Peter, Cambridge

History of St Peter's Cambridge

St Peter 19th cent

According to Pevsner, this was a small church made very small by rebuilding in 1781. Only the C14 W tower  and part of the unaisled nave were kept.

St Peter’s c.1900

More information about this now redundant church can be found on Wikipedia.

St Peter’s in 1937 and cottages which would become Kettle’s Yard Gallery to the right.

St Peter’s is thought to have been built on the site of a Roman temple of Diana. A particularly interesting feature is the Saxon font, and its decoration with rather pagan looking mermen. An interesting article on it can be found here:

http://bystargooseandhanglands.blogspot.co.uk/2016/07/four-mermen-in-twenty-first-century.html

A B Gray in Cambridge Revisited points out that Roman bricks have been incorporated into the wall on the south side. He shows a basso-relievo on a Roman brick said to have been take from the foundations of the church and inserted into the wall of a nearby cottage.

St Peter Roman brick

The Smallest Church in all England: from Leaflets of Local Lore by Urbs Camboritum (Cambs Collection)

St Peter’s Cambridge, 1969 p1

St Peter’s Cambridge, 1969 p2

 

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