DUXFORD : CHURCH OF ST JOHN
Church Post Code CB22 4RG
Open to visitors
Visited August 2024
Redundant : Cared For By The Churches Conservation Trust
It was a bright and sunny early August day in 2024 and a long awaited trip to Duxford, with this being part way through what turned in to a 12 church crawl in which all of the churches were open. The village here is doubtless best known for the Imperial War Museum and air shows but I was solely interested in the two churches to be found within the village; with the church of St Peter being the working parish church for the village, with the church of St John, off to the north, now redundant and cared for by the Churches Conservation Trust. The latter will be covered by this page.
As mentioned, this trip was long awaited and had been on my list of places to visit since around 2008; no point in rushing!
Duxford is a village that can be found some nine miles to the south of Cambridge, which recorded a population of just over 2,200 at the time of the 2021 census. There used to be two parishes here and the suggestion of the merging of the two had been proposed, and fiercely opposed, as far back as 1650. The parishes finally did join together in 1874; with St John becoming a chapel of ease for a time before being declared redundant; being cared for by volunteers before being taken over by the Churches Conservation Trust in 1979.
The village has a rich history and there was a Knights Templar manor here which was mentioned as far back as 1273. The Knights Templars fell from grace and the manor here was dissolved in 1308 with the Templars as a whole being abolished in their entirety shortly afterwards.
The church that we see today consists of central tower, nave, south porch, north aisle and chancel. Despite the central tower this is not a cruciform structure as there are no transepts to complete the shape of the cross.
The core of the church; the nave chancel and parts of the tower date back to the early 12th century. The belfry stage of the tower was added in 1280 with the north chapel, which was used as a schoolroom between 1657 and 1847, being added around 1340, just before the horrors of the Black Death. The north aisle was added in 1440.
The church of St John stands on slightly raised ground, in a churchyard that has seen the gravestones removed; just a couple of mid 19th century chest tombs remaining, which have a Grade II Listing.
The central tower is battlemented with a small recessed lead covered spire, known as a spike. The church is heavily buttressed throughout with a very large buttress at the south west end of the nave. The nave is large in relation to the rest of the structure, with steeply pitched tile roof. The church here is battered and bruised, patched up in places, and has a great charm.
When John James Raven compiled his study of the church bells in Cambridgeshire, which was published in 1869, this was still a working church. Raven records that there were six bells hanging here at that time with the first three of the ring cast by Edward Arnold of St Neots in 1777.
The fourth was cast by Miles Graye of Colchester in 1632, with the fifth being the oldest of the ring; cast by George Clarke of Colchester in 1564. This bell was inscribed ‘JUBILEMUS DEO SALUTARI NOSTRA’ which translates as ‘let us joyfully sing to God our saviour’. Raven noted that this bell had been moved here from St Peter. The sixth of the ring was cast by Richard Keene of Royston in 1699.
Today, there are no bells hanging here with the six bells being taken down in 1947 and moved the short distance to St Peter’s and hung two years later.
The church was open to visitors with entry via the south porch which leads to the 12th century south door, which has a cross with stepped arms in the tympanum above which is thought to predate that. The wooden supports of the porch partially hide a rounded arch over the door with chevron design. It was bright and welcoming inside, the lack of stained glass in this church helping in that respect.
Moving inside my attention was immediately caught by wall paintings scattered throughout, of which more later, and a wonderful floor of great age. The north arcade is of two bays and at the eastern end of the arcade is a doorway with stairs leading to another door further up which led out on to the rood loft in pre reformation days.
The tower arches date from the 12th century and are round headed with painted designs, a commandment board mounted above the western tower arch. The east window of the chancel is of four lights and clear glass. The altar itself was bare except for an altar cloth, with a single cross and candlesticks on the ledge of the window.
The sedilia; which was the seating for the priests during the Mass, takes the form of a ledge under a window against the south wall of the chancel. There is no piscina here, where the holy vessels used during the Mass would be washed, but this could have been filled in during later restorations.
There is a piscina against the south wall of the north chapel though, indicating that mass would have been celebrated here. There is no altar in the north chapel now and the east window is of three lights with intricate tracery, the window flanked by two large and impressive empty image niches.
There is graffiti here, mainly initials and dates, with some of great age; but there is also a pentagram. These days the pentagram has black magic associations but it is was a Christian symbol before that; symbolising the five wounds of Christ on the cross, hands feet and side pierced by a Roman soldiers spear.
It is interesting how this sign is viewed. I once was given a tour around a church in Lincolnshire by a very knowledgeable and helpful guide. As we were touring around the church she mentioned some of the graffiti but not a pentagram which was carved on to the chancel arch. At the end of the tour I mentioned this to her with her reply being a simple ‘Yes that shouldn’t be here!’
Of more recent age but of great interest potentially are two names written in pencil. The first name is hard to decipher but the second appears to be LM White and is dated to June 8th 1943. The US Eighth Air Force's 78th Fighter Group was based at RAF Duxford between April 1943 and October 1945 and perhaps we have two airmen leaving their mark in this church; many miles from home!
The church here is probably best known for its fine wall paintings. It is always fascinating to try and visualise what things must have looked like in a parish church in pre reformation days. Many would have had walls covered in brightly coloured scenes, both Biblical and depicting the saints. Many would have windows filled with medieval stained glass showing similar scene with each being an aid in understanding at a time when most were illiterate.
Most churches, and this is certainly the case here as mentioned earlier, had stairs leading up to a rood loft where there would have been a large wooden carving of the crucifixion with Mary the mother of Jesus and John alongside the cross.
Times change and the reformers saw these as idolatrous. Wall paintings were whitewashed over, stained glass was destroyed, statues were defaced and roods were pulled down and burned; stripping worship back to basics to prevent the worship of the item rather than the worship of God.
The wall paintings here date back to the 12th century and are a fascinating collection. Under the tower arch we see the Agnus Dei, the Lamb of God, flanked on either side by angels in flight. Elsewhere we see a series of images from the life and death of Christ. These include Christ on the cross being speared in the side by a Roman soldier and the deposition shortly afterwards where Christ’s body is removed from the cross. Here we see a female figure with long hair, which I am assuming is Mary Magdalene cradling alongside the cross as his body is about to be removed. We also see three sleeping figures dressed in armour, with the bottom of the risen Christ’s body as he emerges from the tomb. Close by we also see Joseph of Arimathea asking Pilate for the release of Jesus’ body.
One graphic piece of work shows a woman strung up by her hair and having her breasts stabbed. Close by, a row of what could be kneeling figures are being dominated by two characters wielding sticks or swords. It is suggested that each of these could refer to St Catherine, with the church guide suggesting that the latter possibly referring to Catherine’s dispute about her faith with 50 Pagan philosophers; of which I had absolutely no prior knowledge of whatsoever!
Wall paintings on the north wall of the aisle include two Bishops facing each other, with one holding a staff and the other holding a rod. Nearby there is a male figure holding a staff with a cross on it that appears to be blessing a crowned female figure. It is thought that the male figure is Jesus with the scene depicted being the coronation of the Virgin.
From first wanting to visit to finally visiting was probably around 16 years. Was it worth the wait? Yes! This is very fine church, open and welcoming and full of interest for the visitor. It is very much worth a visit if you are in the area. The church of St Peter a short distance away across the village was also open and this does appear to be an area of open churches. There is also a chapel locally; known as Duxford Chapel, which is between Duxford and neighbouring Whittlesford, very close to the railway station. This dates back to the 14th century and was the chapel attached to the Hospital of St John, which itself was founded in the 13th century. This is usually also open to visitors.