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Summary - not yet available

Monument Type(s):

• (Former Type) CHURCH (14th century to Late 20th century - 1301 AD to 2000 AD)
• CROSS (Medieval to Modern - 1066 AD to 2050 AD)

Protected Status:

• Listed Building (II) 1130127: Parish Church of St Mary
• SHINE (Unvalidated): Ruined remains of the medieval church of St Mary's or St Matthew's, Woolley

Full description

2. fixtures and Fittings
Bell: by Thomas Norris, 1634.Chest of drawers, in W tower, late C17 or early C18.
Coffin, stone coffin and lid with moulded edge and ornamental double cross, C13 or early C14.
Coffin lid, in S wall of S transept, part of coped lid with stem of cross, C13 or early C14.
Coffin lid, in churchyard, two tapering slabs, C13 or early C14.
Cross, in churchyard S of chancel, square socket of churchyard cross with hollow chamfered edge and shaped stops at angles, C14, see also R3, O2, O3 above.
Door, in S doorway, C17 door made up with Mod work.
Font, C15 bowl, on Mod stem and base, with C17 oak cover.
Monumental brass indent, in S aisle on W wall, slab with marginal inscription in separate letters to Christiane? de Chartres?, early C14.
Piscina, in S transept, probably C14, described R2.
Plate, included a cup and cover paten of 1570, described and ill R2.
Recess: in north wall of north transept.
Screen, under tower arch, of close bolection-moulded panelling with a panelled door, late C17, described R2.
Stone fragment: in E wall of chancel, grotesque carving of a woman.

3. The church is not mentioned in the Domesday Survey (1086); but numerous C12 stones built into the walls bear evidence to a church here at that time. The chancel, nave, transepts and aisles were built c 1300 and the nave was lengthened and the tower and spire built at the end of the C14. At some uncertain date the N transept was pulled down and rebuilt as an extension of the aisle. The roofs were largely renewed in the C17. The chancel was restored in 1857, and again repaired in 1863. The S transept and S aisle were rebuilt in 1907; the N aisle thoroughly restored in 1914; the columns of the nave arcades underpinned in 1931; and the tower and spire restored in 1932. Originally three bells up until 1748. Only one remains, the frame still contains pits for them.
In the churchyard is the C14 base of a churchyard cross.

6. Pastoral Measure Report for St Mary’s, Woolley in 2007 listed the building as the ruined remains of the medieval church, deliberately stripped in the 1960s. The church’s original plan included a chancel, a nave measuring 13m by 6m, a north transept, south transept, north aisle, south aisle and west tower. The remains which now only include portions of the south and west walls are heavily concealed by undergrowth and hardly recognisable as those of a church. An iron fence defines the churchyard on all sides and there is a small road to the east, the manor house garden to the south and west and a stream to the north. The churchyard is laid to grass with a number of interesting grave markers from the early 17th to 1987 when burials were discontinued. The chancel was restored in 1857 and again in 1863. The south transept and south aisle were rebuilt in 1907, the north aisle restored in 1914. The nave arcades were underpinned in 1931, and the tower and spire were restored in 1932. Together with further deterioration and dwindling parish population, the church was closed in 1949 and the furnishing and fittings dispersed.

7. The church has been a ruin since c.1960 when it was purposefully demolished, and has been on the Buildings at Risk Register since at least 1998. The church is now deconsecrated. The ruins are almost completely covered with ivy and hidden behind trees. The roots of the trees will eventually undermine the foundations of the church as well as damge any underlying remains. The surviving walls of the west tower and doorway are late 14th century in date. The south nave wall and blocked doorway, south aisled wall and part of the jamb to the south doorway and butress and the wall of the south transept date from c.1300. The south transept and south aisle were rebuilt in 1914 and the tower in 1932. The walls are of pebble and limestone rubble with limestone dressings. The blocked south doorway of the nave has Romanesque chevron ornament. The west doorway of the tower is two-centred with double ogee moulding and a hollow chamfered label and plain stops. Although the church survives in a ruinous state, the fragments of Norman fabric and the more substantial 1300 and 14th century fabric with surviving west doorway are important. Remains of the churchyard, with headstones, survives.

O1. The church was part demolished in 1961 by Diocesan order.

O2. The remains of the church are neglected and overgrown (see photographs). The cross base was not located.

O3. The structural remains of the church, built of ironstone rubble with ashlar facings, comprise the W end and S wall of the nave which stand to a maximum height of about 3m.The churchyard, which is heavily overgrown, contains gravestones dating to the C20 but no trace of the Medieval cross base was found. Published 25in survey revised.

<1> 1925, OS 25 inch map (Map). SCB8898.

<2> RCHM, 1926, An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Huntingdonshire, 300 - 301 (Bibliographic reference). SCB12619.

<3> Page, W, Proby, G. and Inskip Ladds, S. (eds), 1936, The Victoria County History of Huntingdonshire. Volume 3, 127 - 128 (ill) (Bibliographic reference). SCB14992.

<4> DOE, Aug 1946, DOE (HHR) Huntingdon RD, Ref 2165/11/A, 5 (Unpublished document). SCB16108.

<5> Taylor, A., 1982-3, Churches Out of Use in Cambridgeshire. PCAS 72: 30-43 (Article in serial). SCB10284.

<6> Elders, J., 2007, Pastoral Measure report: St Mary's, Woolley (Unpublished document). SCB21109.

<7> Huntingdonshire District Council, 2011, Buildings at risk register, 37 (Unpublished report). SCB22031.

<8> Stevens, P.A., Field Investigator Comments, 24/6/71 (Verbal communication). SCB60592.

<9> Colquhoun, F.D, 1978, Field Investigators Comments, 18/7/77 (Verbal communication). SCB60597.

Sources and further reading

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