PIDLEY : CHURCH OF ALL SAINTS
Church Post Code PE28 3DA
Open to visitors
It was a gloriously sunny and warm Sunday afternoon; early August 2014. David and I had spent the afternoon in the Cambridgeshire Fens; with the day’s photography ending in an evening prayer, the destination that evening lost in the mists of time! We had visited all four churches in this benefice; with All Saints at Pidley sharing a benefice with Somersham, Woodhurst and Old Hurst; with all of these churches covered on this site.
Pidley and neighbouring Fenton form a single parish, which was mentioned as far back as 1225, with the population of both combined being 421 at the time of the 2021 census.
Pidley can be found two miles to the west of Somersham with Warboys a similar distance away to the north west; and is far off to the extreme south east of the catchment area of my sites, with Peterborough around 20 miles away to the north west.
The English really are delightfully eccentric at times and this is illustrated well by the sign at the entrance to the village proclaiming ‘Pidley : Home of The Mountain Rescue Team’. Just for a little context here for those who don’t know the area; we are in the middle of the flat Cambridgeshire Fens with the highest point in the parish being 88 feet above sea level. I attempted to Google ‘How close is Pidley to the nearest mountain?’ but it didn’t want to know!
The mountain rescue team here is a charitable fundraiser which puts on events to raise money to buy equipment for disadvantaged and disabled in Huntingdonshire, which included freefall parachute jumping for Teddy bears.
Notable residents included Ex England woman’s cricketer Charlotte Edwards who at the time of typing this is one month in to her new job as head coach to the women’s national team. The village pub is called the ‘Mad Cat, which is my second favourite pub/restaurant name, which is beaten only by the Ghandi in Sandy’ Indian restaurant in Bedfordshire.
The church of All Saints can be found at the north west of the village, alongside the main road which runs through the village as it wends its way towards Somersham.
The church of All Saints can be found at the north west of the village, alongside the main road which runs through the village as it wends its way towards Somersham.
There was an ancient church here which dated back to the 12th century. This consisted of west tower, with a modern wooden bell turret, aisleless nave, south porch and chancel. At the time that it was pulled down in 1863 the south door of the chancel and the north door of the nave were the oldest surviving parts; each dating back to the 12th century. Perhaps this church looked similar to the church at nearby Woodhurst today, which also has a wooden bell turret.
The church was rebuilt on the same site between 1864 and 1865, using much material from the demolished church. It was rebuilt by W Fawcett of Cambridge and was rebuilt on pretty much the same lines as the previous, with west tower, aisleless nave, south porch and chancel but this rebuilt church did contain a north vestry. There is a single two light square headed window in the west wall of the vestry which dates from the 14th century.
There are three bells in the ring here, which are all dated 1675 and cast by Christopher Gray, who is listed as an itinerant founder before working from a foundry in Ampthill in Bedfordshire; then on to Haddenham in Cambridgeshire, where he was operating from when this ring of three was cast. These were removed from the old church and added to the new.
When Revd Owen compiled his study of the church bells in Huntingdonshire, which was published in 1899 he noted that the bells here were ‘clean and well cared for’.
It was quiet and peaceful in the church grounds, despite the close proximity of the main road; with little traffic out on this warm Sunday afternoon. Taking a look at the exterior, the tower is small with a two light window at the western side. There is a small two light shuttered window at the belfry stage on all sides except the east.
A small spire of red tile extends upwards from the tower; the roofs of nave and chancel are tiled and steeply pitched.
The church was open to visitors and moving inside, there is nothing too much to say. The interior is lined with brick with the chancel arch consisting of alternating bands of brick and stone. A red carpet runs the length of the nave and up to the chancel. The reredos against the east wall contains part of Revelation Chapter 12 verses 7 ‘Blessing and wisdom honour and might’ with a cross central. Fixtures and fittings all appear to date from the 1860’s rebuilding.
There is some fine stained glass here, which was made by stained glass artist William Glasby in 1930. The east window is of three lights and shows the risen Christ ascending, flanked by angels, hands outstretched with wounds visible on hands and feet; dressed in white but with a billowing symbolically blood red cloak and nimbus. Script above reads ‘I ascend to my Father and your Father’. This scene is slightly unusual in that it does not include any of the disciples below.
A single light window shows a beautiful depiction of Jesus as the light of the world. Christ again has symbolic blood red cloak and nimbus; and again his wounds are visible. In this depiction he still wears the crown of thorns.
A third window from the same artist shows the Virgin and child. Mary the mother of Jesus holds her child tenderly but Jesus looks outwards at the onlooker rather than at his mother; each have shimmering nimbus. They are flanked by Lilies which symbolise purity; with the whole compiled in subtle pastel shades. Exquisite!
This is a small parish church set in picturesque surroundings. To be fair there is not a great deal to mention and there is not a great deal of history with it being a Victorian rebuild; but it is a beautiful little church and I enjoyed visiting it very much. A couple of the exterior shots below were taken on a previous visit, with the sun starting to set and the shadows lengthening.
