St Peter and St
Paul
from the south.
Steeple Morden
is a picturesque village situated in rural South Cambridgeshire
about 4.5 miles north-west of Royston. While South
Morden or just Morden - "the hill in the marsh" -
appears in the Domesday Book, less is known of its earlier history
than that of its neighbours. It was an identifiable village in the
late Saxon period but has little to compete with the Roman
settlements at Guilden Morden and Litlington, or prehistoric hut
circles near Abington Pigotts. Nevertheless, its higher
elevation would have been attractive, so perhaps it was occupied
earlier and more extensively than today's scant records
suggest.
St. Peter and St. Paul
is strikingly distinct from other South
Cambridgeshire churches. Its most noticable feature is its
steeple: a shingled spire above a tile-covered belfry, both
supported on a much older porch. It was the church
steeple - but not this one - that gave rise to the
village name.
A church certainly existed here in
the Saxon era; there are even references to it from neighbouring
villages. For example, Clopton and Abington Pigotts buried their
dead at Steeple Morden despite having their own churches, with
records of Clopton paying it "churchscot" and "soulscot" burial
tithes. That information and evidence that the church was larger
than a small settlement would require, suggest a superior Saxon
"minster" church with a community of priests serving the
surrounding area.
By the early 13th century,
the (probably) timber-framed Saxon structure had
been replaced by a stone one. It was at this
point (by 1242) that the village is refered to as
Steeple Morden. That steeple was in a dangerous state by 1600 and fell
to the ground in 1625, damaging the nave and the
chancel. A sign near the village pub refers to that
catastrophe.
A likely
story!
"Steeple Morden,
Silly People, Sold the Bells and built the Steeple."
- from the
Guilden Morden Parish website.
The nave was rebuilt quickly, but
remaining work was delayed by disputes over who should pay for it
and further postponed by the Civil War. It was not until the
1670's that matters were settled and work got underway. A new
chancel was built and a spire and belfry were constructed over the
existing south porch. However, further repairs were required
100 years later and two bells sold in 1772 to cover the
costs. Yet more major work was completed between 1866 and
1869: the belfry was reconstructed - again; the south aisle was
restored; and a new shorter chancel was completed.
The church is usually open to
visitors and is worth a look inside. The interior has attracted
some criticism for being "scrubbed and whitewashed to the point of
sterility" but I find that rather harsh. Steeple Morden
has a more modest story to tell than many, but its church has
a rich and dramatic history of development, destruction,
alteration, and preservation.
References:
Steeple Morden, SS Peter and
Paul - http://www.druidic.org/camchurch/churches/steeplemorden.htm
Steeple Morden: a potted history, D.A. Lundberg 1992.
Available from The Friends of St Peter and St Paul church
Steeple Morden Church p1, Guilden Morden Parish Council
website: http://www.guildenmorden.gov.uk/node/251
If anybody would like to
expand this series please do, I would just ask that you could let
Sadexploration know first so he can keep track of the Church
numbers and names to avoid duplication.