Church Micro 5528...Stuntney Traditional Geocache
Church Micro 5528...Stuntney
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I visited the cache down the road and was amazed that such an unusual church, completely overshadowed by the cathedral, didn't have a micro. I felt that needed rectifying, so here we are.
STUNTNEY is a chapelry, 1½ miles south-east from Ely station. Stuntney - the name, means 'Steep Island' - the small village sits on a little hill, and would once have been surrounded by the fens like its great neighbour. Like most of the little island settlements in this area, it was firmly under the control of the great abbey. In 995 it was bequeathed - with a chapel and a fishery - to one Wulstan of Dedham by a widow named Aescwen. Wulstan then gave it to Ely, and it functioned thereafter as a satellite: services were taken by a monk at the monastery, and then after the Reformation by a canon of the cathedral. On the death of Sir Thomas Steward, in 1636, the manor and estate of Stuntney passed into the possession of his nephew Oliver Cromwell, who spent much of his time here before he was returned to Parliament in 1640 as M.P. for Cambridge.
The church of the HOLY CROSS, Stuntney, consists of chancel, south vestry and tower, nave, and quasisouth aisle. The fabric is of 12th-century origin but almost nothing remains from its Norman successor, except for three archways that were preserved when the church was rebuilt in the 19th and 20th centuries. The basic form of the building is the same, however: a simple structure with a small nave and chancel. The later restorations gave it a glossy black flint surface, and a peculiar Italianate tower at the east end of the south aisle, complete with a pitched roof and a little peal of bells. Entry is through a doorway at the west end of the south wall, one of the original Norman arches that has a zig-zag moulding on the arch. The interior is quite unique, being as it is all wooden. There is only one aisle, on the south side, and the arcade is composed of wooden piers: square shafts, each with four rounded engaged shafts that support steep arches in the arcade itself and over the aisle and nave. These then support the roof itself. The effect is very interesting, especially since it's all stained an unexpected dark green colour. This dates from the 1903 restoration, when they had to rebuild much of the nave after finding that the 1876 structure was unsafe. They kept some of the Victorian windows, though, and also the Norman arches. The second and third can be found at the east end of the south aisle and in the south wall of the chancel, now blocked up with a war memorial and the organ respectively. The chancel arch is framed by some of the same wooden structure as fills the nave, but there is also a low rood beam set behind it within the chancel itself. It is rather massive, and supported on heavy brackets on either side. On top of it sits a rood group in much lighter wood. The chancel also houses a collection of wooden spires rescued from Ely Cathedral when the choir stalls were rebuilt in the 19th century. One feature saved from the original church is the 12th-century font which has a cup-shaped bowl with large scallops; the oak cover is of 17th-century date. All the other fittings are modern with the exception of a small 17th-century alms-box. The plate includes a chalice of 1700 inscribed 'Stuntney in Trinity parish in Ely' and 2 silver patens. Entry to the Holy Cross can now only be made by arrangement with the keyholders, however an interesting feature that can be viewed from outside the door is a large 12th-century corbel carved with a head now lying on the ground outside the tower.
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Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Qbrf vg arrq cbvagvat bhg?