Church of St Mary the Less, Cambridge

Church of St Mary the Less

The Church of St Mary the Less is a Church of England church situated on Trumpington Street at the corner of Little St Mary's Lane, in central Cambridge, England, next to Peterhouse. It is known locally as Little Saint Mary's or simply LSM to distinguish it from St Mary the Great.

It is in the Diocese of Ely and follows the Anglo-Catholic tradition of the Church of England.

History

There has been a place of worship on the current site since around the twelfth century. The earliest known records of the church state that the first church here, called St Peter-without-Trumpington Gate, was controlled by three successive generations of the same family until 1207. After that date it was given to the Hospital of St John the Evangelist and served by chaplains from that foundation.

"[1643] At Little Mary’s...we brake down 60 superstitious Pictures, some Popes and Crucifixes, with God the Father sitting in a Chair and holding a Globe in his hand."

In the 1280s, the Bishop of Ely lodged some scholars in the Hospital but to his dismay found soon that the sick and the students could not live in harmony together. The students were moved in 1284 to the site of what is now Peterhouse, this was the origin of Peterhouse. By the 1340s, the church was in such a bad state that the fellows of Peterhouse decided to rebuild it. In 1352, the new building had the dual purpose of College Chapel (to Peterhouse) and Parish Church. At this time, it was rededicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. In 1632, Peterhouse built a separate Chapel and St Mary the Less reverted to being a Parish Church. Richard Crashaw the metaphysical poet, was a priest there from 1638 to 1643, at the same time that he was a Fellow of Peterhouse. A few years after his departure, many of the Church's ornaments and statues were damaged or destroyed by the Puritan extremist William Dowsing. Abraham Baker and his three wives, Ann [surname unknown], Elizabeth Cropley and Margaret Tillet, and nine of his thirteen children are buried at the church. He was Churchwarden in 1677 when he purchased the parish register book, which is now held in the Cambridge Record Office. His eldest son Abraham, who was educated at Peterhouse College, married Margaret Pycroft, daughter of Rev. Samuel Pycroft, and replaced him as rector of Ditchingham, Norfolk in 1718. The damage to the sedilia and the entrance to the Lady Chapel has never been repaired. In 1741 the church was refitted with wooden panelling, box pews, choir gallery, and the present pulpit. From 1856–7 Sir George Gilbert Scott restored the church and removed the 18th-century panelling. Further restoration work was carried out in 1876 and 1891, but by 1880 the church was much as it is now. The south, or Lady Chapel, was added in 1931 and designed by Thomas Lyon, the architect of Sidney Sussex College Chapel. The Parish Centre at the west end of the church was built in 1892 and enlarged in 1990 and again in 2011.

Stained glass

• North-east window of Little St Mary's Church - geograph.org.uk - 1563060.jpg

  North-east window, by Charles Eamer Kempe

• "Wist ye not..." - geograph.org.uk - 708570.jpg

  Stained glass by Harry Stammers, depicting the Finding of Christ in the Temple

• SS Michael and Gabriel - geograph.org.uk - 708566.jpg

  SS Michael and Gabriel by William Bucknall (1851-1944)

• SS Stephen and Martin - geograph.org.uk - 708560.jpg

  SS Stephen and Martin by F.C. Eden, installed in 1936 in memory of Edwin Charles Ogle

• 

  St Andrew and St Elisabeth by F.C. Eden

• St Teresa and St Nicholas - geograph.org.uk - 1608090.jpg

  St Teresa and St Nicholas. Left-hand half of a four-light window by F.C. Eden, placed in memory of Mary Hamblin Clay (1860-1929)

• St Francis and St Monica - geograph.org.uk - 1608097.jpg

  St Francis and St Monica. Right-hand half of a four-light window by F.C. Eden, placed in memory of Mary Hamblin Clay (1860-1929)

External links

• Church website