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A close-up black and white view of ornate wooden church stalls with carved rectangular panels and a stained glass inset.

Gamlingay church stalls c.1442 (RCHM)

St Mary the Virgin, Church Street, Gamlingay

History of St Mary the Virgin, Gamlingay

Listed building on Heritage at Risk Register

Parish Church of C13 origin extensively rebuilt in C14-C15. Carrstone and fieldstone with clunch and limestone dressings. West tower, nave with transeptal chapels and north and south aisles, north and south porches, chancel. West tower C13 origin rebuilt in C14-C15. Extensive water penetration from above and below. The building has been the subject of heritage crime. National Lottery Heritage Fund grant bid being developed with strong local community involvement however a recent grant application failed.

Churchyard cross. Medieval.

The stone tower of St Mary the Virgin rises above a churchyard wall beside a street with residential buildings and a pub.

St Mary the Virgin, Gamlingay (RGL2025)

Stone church with a tall crenellated tower and arched windows seen from a low angle behind a wall with several small figures.

St Mary Gamlingay, 1910

A stone church with a tall, thin spire rising from a square, crenellated tower, seen from a low angle against a pale sky.

Gamlingay Church, (RCHM)

Stained glass window in five vertical panels depicting religious figures, ornate halos, and architectural patterns in stone.

St Mary the Virgin, Gamlingay (RGL2025)

Tall, narrow, carved wooden desk end featuring Gothic tracery, pointed arches, two heraldic shields, and a fleur-de-lis finial.

Gamlingay church, desk end c.1442 (RCHM)

Intricately carved dark wood church pew with an open door and a small upholstered footstool, set on a tiled floor.

St Mary the Virgin, Gamlingay (RGL2025)

Detailed wood carving of a grape cluster and leaves on a decorative corbel bracket attached to a wooden pew end in a church.

St Mary the Virgin, Gamlingay (RGL2025)

A wooden misericord showing a central animal face carved in relief flanked by foliate scrolls on a dark, grain-textured panel.

St Mary the Virgin, Gamlingay (RGL2025)

Dark wood carving of a squatting figure holding up a ledge, flanked by two leaf designs, set against a paneled wall.

St Mary the Virgin, Gamlingay (RGL2025)

A wooden misericord featuring a carved central face with pointed ears and a protruding tongue, flanked by two carved rosettes.

St Mary the Virgin, Gamlingay (RGL2025)

A wooden bench end carved in high relief with a figure wearing a hooded garment and resting their hands on their chest.

St Mary the Virgin, Gamlingay (RGL2025)

Close-up, high-contrast black and white photograph of fifteenth-century Gothic script scratched into a rough stone surface.

Gamlingay church, scratching 15th cent. (RCHM)

Grey stone slab showing weathered, incised, hand-carved gothic-style lettering in two rows against a vertically striated wall.

St Mary the Virgin, Gamlingay (RGL2025)

Close-up of a weathered stone pillar showing faint, etched historic graffiti markings on its smooth, vertical masonry surface.

St Mary the Virgin, Gamlingay (RGL2025)

Light-colored stone pillar surface incised with faint scratched graffiti, including initials and a small cross design.

St Mary the Virgin, Gamlingay (RGL2025)

Interior view of stone arcade pillars and pointed arches, with wooden pews and a screen in the background of a church.

Gamlingay church, N arcade, 13th cent (RCHM)

A rectangular stone recess set into a wall, bordered by regularly spaced, square-shaped dark openings in the masonry frame.

Gamlingay, recess, medieval (RCHM)

A stone wall recess with an ogee arch, ornate tracery, and two carved shields integrated into a rectangular frame.

Gamlingay, piscina, 15th cent. (RCHM)

A black and white drawing of an ornate wall-mounted stone monument featuring a central inscription to Ralph and Elizabeth Lane.

Gamlingay church, monument to Ralph Lane 1732 and Elizabeth Lane, 1754 (RCHM)

An ornate stone memorial plaque features a central inscription for Ralph and Elizabeth Lane topped by a coat of arms.

St Mary the Virgin, Gamlingay (RGL2025)

A detailed 1601 hand-drawn map shows parcels of land labeled with owners' names, the church, and small building illustrations.

Deatil of Gamlibgay map with church by T Langdon 1601 (Merton Collage)

An 18th-century hand-colored map drawing showing the formal gardens, estate grounds, and an inset view of Gamlingay Park.

Gamlingay Park estate, 1601 (Downing College)

Stone architectural boss featuring a central shield with crossed staffs, surrounded by carved winged heads and foliage.

Gamlingay church 14th cent. (RCHM)

An 1886 Ordnance Survey map fragment showing the layout of St Mary’s Church, its graveyard, and the nearby school building.

Church, Gamlingay OS 1886

A long building with a steeply pitched thatched roof stands in a grassy field with trees and a distant church tower behind it.

Tithe barn to SE of church. It is on a map of 1601. It was probably rebuilt in the 18th cent. and was burned down c.1968.

Stone church with crenellated roofline, gothic windows, and an adjacent churchyard containing old headstones under cloudy skies.

St Mary the Virgin, Gamlingay (RGL2025)

The interior of a church with rows of wooden pews, white walls, stone arches, and an ornate wooden rood screen under the chancel.

St Mary the Virgin, Gamlingay (RGL2025)

Stone pointed arch with reddish masonry blocks leads to a dark ceiling with exposed timber beams and a pendant light fixture.

St Mary the Virgin, Gamlingay (RGL2025)

A view through a deep, arched stone opening, revealing wooden planks and a light-colored cable in the shadowed space beyond.

St Mary the Virgin, Gamlingay (RGL2025)

A high-angle view of weathered, dark wooden church pews arranged in rows next to a white wall and a red tiled floor.

St Mary the Virgin, Gamlingay (RGL2025)

Large, ornate, cast-iron radiator positioned against wooden pews on a floor of patterned red and dark-grey square tiles.

St Mary the Virgin, Gamlingay (RGL2025)

Tags

  • apotropaic
  • church
  • graffiti
  • heritage at risk register
  • Listed building
  • medieval

Projects

  • Gamlingay

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Gamlingay

5 Drury Lane, Yew Tree Cottage, Melbourn

24 St Mary’s Street, Ely

School House, 47 The Street, Kirtling

Havelock House, 1 Mill Street, Gamlingay

1 Dennis Green, Gamlingay

20, 22, 24, 26 Church Street, Gamlingay

7 Church Street, Gamlingay

32 Church Street, Gamlingay

27 Church End, Gamlingay

Gamlingay data

Cottages, Church Street, Gamlingay

86 & 88 Church Street, Gamlingay

53 Church Street, Gamlingay