Great Stukeley

St Bartholomew has two rather strange notices. First on the north door is one that reads something like "if this door is locked please try the south door" and the second, in the south porch, says "welcome to our church which is open for visits on Sundays and Wednesday" and then goes on to list numbers for access on another day.

Now I know it's really none of my business but it seems to me a tad strange that someone, presumably one the owners of the numbers listed, can make time on Wednesdays to open and close the church but is too busy the rest of the week to be able to do so [I can understand Sunday because it needs to be opened for the vicar and four members of the congregation]. Call me old fashioned but if you are going to open your church go the whole hog and do so seven days a week [unless of course there's research to show that church burglars do not operate on Wednesdays].

In the south porch there's a recycled coffin lid and on the tower a curious mason's mark [?] but other than that it's not terribly interesting so I resisted the urge to track down the keys.

ST BARTHOLOMEW. Substantial Perp W tower with clasping buttresses chamfered towards the middles of the four sides of the tower. Low post-medieval pyramid roof. On the chancel N side a pair of E.E. lancets. Internally the evidence is earlier. Arcades of four bays. N differs from S in interesting ways, suggesting only a small difference in time. On the S side the piers and abaci are round, and one capital has early stiff-leaf. The arches are pointed, of one step and one slight chamfer - say 1190. But the W bay has two slight chamfers, i.e. is a little later. On the N side the abaci are octagonal, and arches two and three are of the earlier, arches one and four of the later variety. The arch from tower to nave is Perp, and a vault was begun inside the tower. The ribs rest on figural brackets, one of a frightening frog creature. - STOUP. Square and gabled. Mr Sisson suggests that it may be part of a pinnacle. - PLATE. Cup and Cover Paten 1624-5.

GREAT STUKELEY. It has a majestic tower with a little red cap looking over these green fields a mile or two from Huntingdon. It has a thatched post-office and a hall in a park. Standing by its church (dedicated to St Bartholomew) we counted a dozen towers and spires.

An extraordinary company of grotesques have been looking out from the tower since the 15th century, some terrifying, some rude, some droll figures to amuse us, and one a queer creature like a frog. The church has fragments of stone coffin lids about 700 years old, a font of that age with nine shafts, some fragments of old glass and a 17th century altar cup; and among so much that is old it was delightful to see an oak pulpit made by a craftsman of our time, its panels enriched with splendid carving of a vine, an oak tree, and a bush of roses. We noticed an unusual kind of sundial meant to show only the afternoon hours.

Flickr.