The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, generally known as The Round Church, is an Anglican church in the city of

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

, England. It is located on the corner of Round Church Street and Bridge Street. Since 1950 the church has been designated a Grade I

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

, and is currently managed by Christian Heritage. It is one of the four

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

round church A round church is a church construction with a completely circular plan. There are many Nordic round churches in Sweden and Denmark (notably the island of Bornholm); round churches were popular in Scandinavia in the 11th and early 12th centurie ...

es still in use in England.

History

The church was built around 1130, its shape being inspired by the rotunda in the church of the Holy Sepulchre,

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

. It was built by the Fraternity of the Holy Sepulchre, who were probably a group of Austin canons. It consisted of a round

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

and an

ambulatory The ambulatory ( la, ambulatorium, ‘walking place’) is the covered passage around a cloister or the processional way around the east end of a cathedral or large church and behind the high altar. The first ambulatory was in France in the 11th ...

, with a short

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ov ...

, probably in the shape of an

apse In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an '' exedra''. ...

. Initially it was a wayfarers' chapel on the Roman road known as

Via Devana Via Devana is the name given to a Roman Road in England that ran from Colchester in the south-east, through Cambridge in the interior, and on to Chester in the north-west. These were important Roman military centres and it is conjectured that the ...

(this is now Bridge Street). By the middle of the 13th century it had become a

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

under the patronage of

Barnwell Priory Barnwell Priory was an Augustinians, Augustinian priory at Barnwell, Cambridgeshire, Barnwell in Cambridgeshire, founded as a house of Canons Regular. The only surviving parts are 13th-century claustral building, which is a Grade II* listed, and ...

. Around this time structural alterations were made to the church, with the rebuilding of the chancel and the addition of a north

aisle An aisle is, in general, a space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, certain types of buildings, such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, par ...

, the aisle being shorter than the chancel. During the 15th century the

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

style windows in the nave were replaced by larger

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

style windows. The carvings of angels in the roofs of the chancel and aisle were added. A polygonal bell-storey was built over the nave. In 1643, during the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

, many of the "idolatrous" images were destroyed. By the 19th century the church was in a poor state of repair. Part of the ambulatory collapsed in 1841, and the

Cambridge Camden Society The Cambridge Camden Society, known from 1845 (when it moved to London) as the Ecclesiological Society,Histor ...

offered to carry out repairs. They appointed

Anthony Salvin Anthony Salvin (17 October 1799 – 17 December 1881) was an English architect. He gained a reputation as an expert on medieval buildings and applied this expertise to his new buildings and his restorations. He restored castles and country h ...

for the purpose. Salvin replaced the bell-storey with a roof similar to the original roof. This was made necessary because the weight of the bell-storey was too much for the walls to support. The 15th-century Gothic windows were replaced by windows in Norman style, and a formerly-inserted gallery was removed, together with the external staircase leading to it. To compensate for this, a new south aisle was added. It was found that the east wall of the chancel was unstable and this was replaced. Then the north aisle, by that time in poor condition, was also rebuilt, extending it to the same length as the chancel. The floor, previously black marble, was relaid in tile. The original estimate for the cost of the

restoration Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to: * Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage ** Audio restoration ** Film restoration ** Image restoration ** Textile restoration * Restoration ecology ...

was £1,000, with the parish paying £300; it eventually cost nearly £4,000 (), with the parish providing only £50. The erection in 1843 of a stone altar was the subject of a lawsuit. In 1845 the

Court of Arches The Arches Court, presided over by the Dean of Arches, is an ecclesiastical court of the Church of England covering the Province of Canterbury. Its equivalent in the Province of York is the Chancery Court. It takes its name from the street-level ...

ordered that it be taken down and replaced with a wooden table. In 1866 the

Cambridge Union Society The Cambridge Union Society, also known as the Cambridge Union, is a debating and free speech society in Cambridge, England, and the largest society in the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1815, it is the oldest continuously running debati ...

built their premises in the church's former graveyard, while, in 1899, a

vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government for a parish in England, Wales and some English colonies which originally met in the vestry or sacristy of the parish church, and consequently became known colloquiall ...

was added to the north of the north aisle; this was extended in 1980. The Victorian stained glass in the east window was destroyed by a bomb in the Second World War and was replaced in 1946. By 1994 the congregation had become too large for the church, and they moved their gatherings to the nearby Church of

St Andrew the Great St Andrew the Great is a Church of England parish church in central Cambridge. Rebuilt in late Gothic style in 1843, it is a Grade II listed building. The church has a conservative evangelical tradition and participates in the Anglican Reform mov ...

Architecture

The church is built in stone. Its plan consists of a circular nave surrounded by an

, a chancel with north and south aisles and a north vestry. Over the nave is an upper storey surmounted by a conical spire. To the north of the church is an octagonal bell-

turret Turret may refer to: * Turret (architecture), a small tower that projects above the wall of a building * Gun turret, a mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon * Objective turret, an indexable holder of multiple lenses in an optical microscope * Mi ...

containing two bells. The church is entered by a Norman west doorway with three orders of colonnettes, decorated with scalloped capitals and zigzags, and

crenellations A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (i.e., a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at interv ...

in the

voussoir A voussoir () is a wedge-shaped element, typically a stone, which is used in building an arch or vault. Although each unit in an arch or vault is a voussoir, two units are of distinct functional importance: the keystone and the springer. The ...

s. Between the ambulatory and the nave are eight massive Norman columns and round arches. Each of the capitals of the columns is carved with a different design. Part of the

vault Vault may refer to: * Jumping, the act of propelling oneself upwards Architecture * Vault (architecture), an arched form above an enclosed space * Bank vault, a reinforced room or compartment where valuables are stored * Burial vault (enclosure ...

of the ambulatory has

dog-tooth In architecture, a dog-tooth or dogtooth pattern is an ornament found in the mouldings of medieval work of the commencement of the 12th century, which is thought to have been introduced by the Crusaders. The earliest example is found in the hal ...

ornamentation. In the ambulatory and nave are carved human heads dating from the 19th century. Above the nave is a

triforium A triforium is an interior gallery, opening onto the tall central space of a building at an upper level. In a church, it opens onto the nave from above the side aisles; it may occur at the level of the clerestory windows, or it may be locat ...

containing double Norman arches. To the east are the chancel and aisles. In the chancel and the north aisle are carved angels dating from the 15th century which are attached to the corbels supporting the roof; some of the angels are holding or playing musical instruments. The communion table dates from 1843 and was made by Joseph Wentworth. The chancel is floored between the choir stalls with tiles laid in 1842. They depict the Royal coat of arms, and the

arms Arms or ARMS may refer to: *Arm or arms, the upper limbs of the body Arm, Arms, or ARMS may also refer to: People * Ida A. T. Arms (1856–1931), American missionary-educator, temperance leader Coat of arms or weapons *Armaments or weapons **Fi ...

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...

and Prince Albert. At the corners are animals representing the Four Evangelists. There are two bells in the bell-turret. One of these is dated 1663 and was cast by Robard Gurney; the other is a priest's bell possibly cast by J. Sturdy of London between 1440 and 1458. Most of the stained glass in the church was introduced during the 19th-century

and was designed and made by

Thomas Willement Thomas Willement (18 July 1786 – 10 March 1871) was an English stained glass artist, called "the father of Victorian stained glass", active from 1811 to 1865. Biography Willement was born at St Marylebone, London. Like many early 19th centu ...

and

William Wailes William Wailes (1808–1881) was the proprietor of one of England's largest and most prolific stained glass workshops. Life and career Wailes was born and grew up in Newcastle on Tyne, England's centre of domestic glass and bottle manufacturing. ...

. The glass in the east window was destroyed by a bomb in 1942 and was replaced by a new window in 1946 depicting Christ in Majesty. File:Cambridge,_the_round_church_03.JPG, Interior looking towards the altar File:cmglee_Cambridge_Round_Church_annex.jpg, The nave (foreground) and north aisle (background right)

Recent history and present day

By 1994 the congregation had grown too large to be accommodated and it moved to the nearby Church of St Andrew the Great. Holy Sepulchre is open for visitors and contains an exhibition entitled ''The Impact of Christianity in England'', and a study centre known as a

scriptorium Scriptorium (), literally "a place for writing", is commonly used to refer to a room in medieval European monasteries devoted to the writing, copying and illuminating of manuscripts commonly handled by monastic scribes. However, lay scribes an ...

. The church hosts concerts, recitals and plays, and arranges courses, summer schools, and lectures.

Burials

* John Lowry

References

Citations Sources *

External links