St Bene't's Church is a

Church of England parish church A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ...

in central

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

, England. Parts of the church, most notably the tower, are

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...

, and it is the oldest church in Cambridgeshire as well as the oldest building in Cambridge. The church is dedicated to Saint

Benedict of Nursia Benedict of Nursia (; ; 2 March 480 – 21 March 547), often known as Saint Benedict, was a Great Church, Christian monk. He is famed in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Lutheran Churches, the Anglican Communion, and Old ...

, the founder of the

Benedictine order The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly Christian mysticism, contemplative Christian monasticism, monastic Religious order (Catholic), order of the Catholic Church for men and f ...

of monasticism. Bene't is an attempt to reconcile the Anglo-Norman name Benet with the Latin (and modern English) form of the saint's name Benedict. Latin documents from the 13th and 14th century refer to ''"ecclesie sancti Benedicti"'' while a contract (in English) of 6 June 1452 for a new roof referred to the "cherche of seynt Bennettys". Lyne's map of Cambridge of 1574 shows "Benett Ch" while Loggan's map of 1688 shows "St Bennetts Church". In the 19th century the church was variously referred to as being of "St Benedict", "St Benet" or "St Bene't". Modern usage is either "St Benet" or "St Bene't".

Location

The church is on the south side of

Bene't Street Bene't Street is a short historic street in central Cambridge, England, the name being derived from St Benedict. There is a junction with King's Parade to the north and Trumpington Street to the south at the western end of the street. Free Scho ...

next to Corpus Christi College. St Bene't's was the College's chapel until 1579. The College remains the church's patron, and there are continuing links between the church and the College chapel. Opposite the church on the North side of Bene't Street is the Eagle Pub.

History

St Bene't's Anglo-Saxon tower was "most probably" built between AD 1000–1050, although the present bell-openings were added in 1586. The tower has characteristically Anglo-Saxon long-and-short quoins. These project beyond the rubble face, indicating that the tower used to be rendered, as All Saints' Church, Earls Barton is. Inside the church the 11th-century arch supporting the tower is the most notable feature. The arcade of the nave is from a rebuilding of c.1300, when the aisles were also rebuilt. The 14th-century aisles and the north and east walls of the chancel were razed when the church was widened during two Victorian restorations: in 1853 Raphael Brandon rebuilt the north aisle and added the porch; in 1872 Arthur Blomfield rebuilt the south aisle, the chancel and the clerestory of the nave including the chancel arch. During these works Anglo-Saxon footings of quoins were found which indicated that the original nave was wider than it is today. It is not known when aisles were first added, but it seems likely to have been at a rebuilding before that of c.1300. In the 13th century the

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

was altered, hence the deeply splayed Early English Gothic lancet windows on the south side (one of which is now blocked). The

sedilia In church architecture, sedilia (plural of Latin ''sedīle'', "seat") are seats, typically made of stone, located on the liturgical south side of the altar—often within the chancel—intended for use by the officiating priest, deacon, an ...

and piscina in the chancel are 14th-century, with Decorated Gothic

ogee An ogee ( ) is an object, element, or curve—often seen in architecture and building trades—that has a serpentine- or extended S-shape (Sigmoid curve, sigmoid). Ogees consist of a "double curve", the combination of two semicircle, semicircula ...

d arches. The

clerestory A clerestory ( ; , also clearstory, clearstorey, or overstorey; from Old French ''cler estor'') is a high section of wall that contains windows above eye-level. Its purpose is to admit light, fresh air, or both. Historically, a ''clerestory' ...

and roof of the nave are late

Perpendicular Gothic Perpendicular Gothic (also Perpendicular, Rectilinear, or Third Pointed) architecture was the third and final style of English Gothic architecture developed in the Kingdom of England during the Late Middle Ages, typified by large windows, four-ce ...

and date from 1452. St Bene't's has one

monumental brass A monumental brass is a type of engraved church monument, sepulchral memorial once found through Western Europe, which in the 13th century began to partially take the place of three-dimensional church monument, monuments and effigy, effigies carve ...

: a small kneeling figure of Richard Billingford, who died in 1442 and had been Master of Corpus Christi College 1398–1432. The church is a

Grade I listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

Bells

From its earliest days until the 17th century, the University paid the church to use its bells. A document of 1273 records that the rector agreed to the bells being rung for the University provided the "customary gratification" was paid. This became an annual sum of six shillings and eight pence which was paid as late as 1624, after the tower of Great St Mary's had been completed. In 1655 the University gave thirty shillings "as a free gift" towards the repair of the bells. The tower has a ring of six bells, five of which are 16th or 17th century. Oldest is the second bell, cast by an unknown bellfounder in 1588. A local founder, Richard Holdfield of Cambridge, cast the third bell in 1607 and the fifth bell in 1610. John Draper of

Thetford Thetford is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Breckland District of Norfolk, England. It is on the A11 road (England), A11 road between Norwich and London, just east of Thetford Forest. The civil parish, coverin ...

cast the tenor bell in 1618 and Robert Gurney of

Bury St Edmunds Bury St Edmunds (), commonly referred to locally as ''Bury,'' is a cathedral as well as market town and civil parish in the West Suffolk District, West Suffolk district, in the county of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer map 211: Bury St. Edmunds an ...

cast the treble bell in 1663. The youngest is the fourth bell, cast by William Dobson of Downham Market in 1825. Dobson was a prolific bellfounder and 233 of his bells are known to survive. Surviving bells by Holdfield, Draper or Gurney are much rarer.

People

Michael Ramsey, who later became

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the Primus inter pares, ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the bishop of the diocese of Canterbury. The first archbishop ...

, was vicar in 1938. Brothers of the Society of Saint Francis (among them Br Michael (Fisher)) served at St Bene't's from 1945 until 2005. The Revd Canon Angela Tilby, a regular contributor to

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

's '' Thought for the Day'', was vicar, 2007–11. The Revd Canon Anna Matthews, previously precentor of St Albans Cathedral, served as vicar from September 2012 until her death in March 2023.RIP – Revd Anna Matthews, Vicar of St Bene’t’s in Cambridge
/ref> Revd Dr James Gardom, usually Dean of Pembroke College, took over the post 2023-24. Fabian Stedman (1640–1713), a pioneer in the development of

change ringing Change ringing is the art of ringing a set of tuning (music), tuned bell (instrument), bells in a tightly controlled manner to produce precise variations in their successive striking sequences, known as "changes". This can be by method ringing in ...

, was clerk of the parish in the mid 17th century.

References

Sources and further reading