Capturing Cambridge
  • search
  • Facebook
  • Twitter

St Pandiona and St John the Baptist, Eltisley

History of church and nunnery, Eltisley

Listed Building

Nave and aisles c.1200 with north chapel added and chancel rebuilt or extended in C13, replaced in white brick c.1840.

In the 16th cent. Leland recorded that Eltisley was the site of a nunnery founded before the Norman conquest. It was made famous by the arrival of Pandonia, daughter of a King of lowland Scotland. She fled here during the 9th century to join her sister who was already a nun here. She stayed until her death in 904 AD. The parish church was dedicated to Pandonia by the 13th century.

A holy well on the south side of the church was destroyed during the 16th century as it was held to be a site of ‘idolatrous and popish practices.’ The nunnery was probably on what was later a moated site at Papley Grove.

Contribute

Do you have any information about the people or places in this article? If so, then please let us know using the Contact page or by emailing capturingcambridge@museumofcambridge.org.uk.

License

This work is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Dear Visitor,

 

Thank you for exploring historical Cambridgeshire! We hope you enjoy your visit.

 

Did you know that we are a small, independent Museum and that we rely on donations from people like you to survive?

 

If you love Capturing Cambridge, and you are able to, we’d appreciate your support today.

 

Every donation makes a world of difference.

 

Thank you,

The Museum of Cambridge