John Norris Remebers...
The Renovation of the Two Churches
To complete the description of the churches, the church yard needs attention.
In 1960 there were no handy grass cutters, let alone ones that would work on a
slope. Grass cutting machines usually were usually of the cylinder type, quite
unsuitable for our job. The solution was to let the grass grow to maturity when
the stalks would be very stiff, and suitable for cutting with a scythe.
I can not remember who did this, but only the front of the church yard was cut. The back or East side was left to decay naturally, as there were too many trees and brambles to do any cutting. This pertained for a year or so until I purchased an Allen Motor Scythe. A petrol engine drove reciprocating blades, and also propelled the thing along. It was heavy to manoeuvre, but did cut the grass.
After another year or two, we tackled the trees, cutting down many ash, beech, and elder, together with one row of holly trees. The idea was to remove the hollies on one side of the path, plant some smaller ones ,then do the same on the remaining trees The first phase went well until we came to dispose the roots.
Early one morning I heard a tractor working; it would be about 4am. I got up to enquire what was going on, and went up to the church yard, and found Ted Saddler digging a huge hole with his bull-dozer. Not the huge things we see today, but a handy little one that could spin around in a very small circle.. The hole was very deep and bones lay all around. His excuse was that the roots had to be buried somewhere, and that when he had finished nobody would know. But someone did!! I reminded him that this might seem practical, but it was really not allowed.
Today it is all history; a low place is now level and all is well with the world. At this time many broken grave stones were buried in a culvert down the fen road, whilst the best were stood up against the east wall of the churchyard. The flymo was the saviour of the mowers, it being very light and adaptable. Geoff Lewis and I had one each, and for the first time the grass was mown when it was young, and did not need clearing up or burning. The final machine was the ride on mower we see today and which has transformed the upkeep of the churchyard.
During the sixties St Cyriac's was in a bad state of repair. The bell gantry on the top of the tower, had a cracked leg and was unsafe, so the was unceremoniously pushed over the side, to crash to the floor.. The bell was fixed to the arcading at the top and made to ring as usual. Many of the panels of the side pews were removed to build a porch in the chapel at Reach upon which Colin Washtell, placed the organ pipes. The design of these very nice panels was the same as the present balcony. In 1971 the Churches Conservation Trust took over the management of the church, and commissioned many repairs. A new roof, repairs to the floor, and much refurbishment of the exterior walls; very similar to the work done on St Mary's.
An interesting site in the steps to the top of the tower merits noting. As the steps rise up the tower , small windows were cut in the outside wall to give light. As there was no glass in them, the air for the prevailing wind blew on the centre column. The soot and industrial smog has turned the surfaces opposite these windows black. On going up higher, round the corner, the wall are brilliant white, only to appear black again at the next window.
It is worth commentating on the level of the floor under the tower. To-day there are steps just inside the west door, and the whole area inside the church is level. This was not the original state of affairs, as the, entrance to the tower through a small door , is three feet lower, indicating that the present day floor has been raised.. Was the whole church at this lower level, and the altar as it is now?. I think the idea of an high altar was regarded by many as a Roman Catholic feature, which of course all churches were until Henry VIII had his way, and tried to abolish roman practices.
The restoration work on St Cyriac's was to restore the building as near to the original condition as reasonable. Most of the north side was covered with ivy, with all of it's roots firmly embedded in the brickwork. We had cut all the roots we could find, but the plant had roots everywhere. The description of the structure was "carpenters gothic" in view of the wooden pillar inside, and the mullions in the window being made of oak. It was these mullions that caused a small deviation from the original plan, because stone was cheaper than oak today. So, some of the windows now have their window glass in stone frames, unaffordable in the original structure. The bells were re-hung after being turned through ninety degrees which necessitated new headstocks, as the bell crowns were not symmetrical,
Just before my arrival here the clock had received a new face. The initiative of Sidney Hewitt on seeing the old wooden face lose its numbers, and the hands looking very untidy, was the spur to do something about it.. Accordingly a new face of four aluminium sheets clearly painted and numbered were screwed to the old wooden one. The operation required much courage, as Sidney was lowered from the top in a Bosuns Chair, and did the work suspended on ropes. This lasted for many years until the Conservation Trust did their restorations
Today the cedar trees have outgrown their allotted space, and have become a hazard to the gutters and drains.. Thought is being given to this matter, and commentators in the future will know the outcome. of our present deliberations; some current thinking is that they should be cut down, and perhaps small new ones planted.
The walls round the churchyard have had a chequered history.. On the north side, adjacent to Shadworth House, the wall is now cast concrete some eight feet high when originally built after the original one fell down in the twenties, after an explosion !
The garden of the Red Lion had a row of huge sycamore trees which needed removing, as they had become unsafe due to the shallow soil. Mr Godfrey who lived next door and who was connected to the gunsmith family, Gallion, who had a store in Bridge Street Cambridge. knew the answer ! A tin of black powder placed under the large stumps would easily remove them, and probably split them up as well. The huge explosion did the job; many near by houses had logs of wood dropped on their roofs, whilst several windows were shattered. A day later an almighty crash, and the churchyard wall had fallen over. A twenty yard length had landed in my garden. I have not been able to find out who repaired it, but it was a job well done, as it is standing today. The wall was so high that a row of sheds were built against it.
The East wall suffered from the shaking of the digger laying the new sewer to the houses on Tothill road. That too fell over after the contractors had gone , and is still in ruins today. Going further round to the south side, the large Yew Trees have pushed this wall to almost breaking point. Large bends have appeared against each trunk, and it will surely fall into Anglesey House garden unless something is done soon. Nearer the road a section of clunch wall fell after the 1965 frosts, and this too needs replacing, as churchyards must by law have a continuous fence
We now reach the west, or road side where the two schools were standing, one built before the enclosure map of 1807, and another, the boy's school probably built in the 1860s ( The British Schools). There is a lovely photo taken by Tom Cooper showing these buildings, the Red Lion, and the John Bull public houses in a view of the High Street. These buildings were in use until 1929 when the old part of the present school was built. The site was cleared and the iron fence erected, but this land was never part of the churchyard, unless the church wardens gave permission to build these schools so near to the derelict St Mary's. At this time St Cyriac's had been rebuilt, and was in use. It had long been assumed that Squire Allix and the congregation did not fancy going to church between the schools and looking up at the ruin, so that they made themselves a new path by taking some of Anglesey House garden, making a way straight up to the church. I now know this is incorrect, as the ordnance survey map of 1890 shows the land still with Anglesey House.
At the top of this new "path" are two vaults with the remains of members of the Allix family interred therein. It is a pity all the male members were christened Charles; a James or Arbuthnot now and again would have helped historians The latest interment was in 1922, when the wife of, who else but Charles, was buried there Halfway down the path is a stone cross marking the place where the bones from under the altar have their final resting place.
So the repair to St Mary's is still waiting to be done, the schools are still there, and St Cyriac's is falling into disrepair. All this makes the tale told to me by John Goddard even more relevant. Apparently during the building of this wall, progress was not fast enough for the Squire; the flints did not arrive in time or in quantity. They were gathered from the gravel pit up the Heath Road and transported in a cart to the churchyard. Young John used to get six pence to help load and unload. these heavy flints, and overheard the instructions to bring bigger loads, and more quickly. The builders obeyed this instruction to the letter.
Cage hill at this time, perhaps just before the first word war, was not a very smooth surface, and being steeper than it is today proved quite a hazard to horse drawn vehicles, especially those with no brakes.. The punch line to all this is that the cart wheel broke, shedding flints all over the place, and instead of speeding up the operation succeeded in slowing it down even more. John told me this tale several times, and the smile on his face grew broader with every telling.
We have pictures of three different buildings on St Cyriac's site. The last one built with brick, but the previous one of other materials. This may account for the churchyard site being so much higher than the surrounding land, for where did the remains of the former ones go? Perhaps spread around, as there is much evidence of quarried stone about the village, or just built upon. It was a pity that the outline of the old roof was not left in place on the west side of the tower; during the recent renovations, it was quite clear and gave an interest for the archivists the story continues.. But another question remains unanswered, why was St Mary's built in a hole? Apart from the tower entrance most of the building is below ground level, some eight feet at the east end. St Cyriac's has the prime site on top of the hill, why build another for such a small community.?