Former Church of St Peter

Summary

A former parish church, built to the designs of Richard Reynolds Rowe in 1866-1868.

Reasons for Designation

The former church of St Peter, Prickwillow, built in 1866-1868 to the designs of Richard Reynolds Rowe, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* as a complete cruciform church with apsidal east end scaled to meet the size of a fenland hamlet;
* for its locally distinctive materials and method of construction, including a knapped flint exterior and foundations of massed wooden piles;
* for the quality of its craftsmanship, seen particularly in its highly complex roof structure and the stained glass by Heaton, Butler and Bayne.

Historic interest:

* as the work of Richard Reynolds Rowe, whose buildings are especially associated with Cambridgeshire and the Diocese of Ely;
* as a marker of the changing face of the fens, constructed following the re-routing of the Great Ouse and the draining of the surrounding wetlands.

History

Prickwillow historically formed part of the parishes of the Holy Trinity and St Mary in Ely.

Until 1830 the Great Ouse flowed along the course of the present main street, and the settlement itself was largely undeveloped on the north bank. Following the diversion of the river and the laying out of Main Street the population of Prickwillow increased and the need arose for a dedicated parish church.

In 1866-1868 the church of St Peter was constructed on a foundation of wooden piles. It is likely to have been designed by Richard Reynolds Rowe, although the Incorporated Church Building Society (ICBS) attribute a plan of the church to John Bacon.

Rowe's work at Ely Cathedral may explain the gift to the church of the cathedral's 1693 font of Italian marble. Ely's pre-restoration nave roof may also have inspired the scissor bracing of the chancel and transepts at St Peter's.

Repairs were carried out in 1968-1970 by Mitchell, Mobbs and Taylor, part funded by the ICBS.

In 2011 the church was made redudant, prior to which the font and all other interior fixtures were removed.

Richard Reynolds Rowe (1824-1899) acted as Clerk of Works for Ewan Christian in his early career. He was appointed Engineer to the Improvement Commissioners of Cambridge in 1850, Surveyor of Bridges and Public Works in the Isle of Ely in 1852, and Engineer to the March Board of Health from 1866. He was Clerk of Works to Ely Cathedral and was involved, under Sir George Gilbert Scott, in the restoration of the octagon. He was also involved in the restoration of many medieval churches throughout Cambridgeshire, including the chapel of Jesus College, and Great St Mary’s, Cambridge. Reynolds became an Associate of the RIBA in 1854 (later a Fellow), and a member of the Institute of Civil Engineers in 1855. From 1850 Reynolds practised independently. He has five listed buildings to his name: the church of St Andrew, Burwell (1863), the Cambridge Corn Exchange (1875 or 1876), the neighbouring Red Cow public house (1898), and the church of St Matthew, Cambridge, all listed at Grade II; and the Grade II* listed church of St Mary the Virgin and St John the Baptist in Rothley, Leicestershire, which he restored and produced designs for the rebuilt chancel.

Details

A former parish church, built to the designs of Richard Reynolds Rowe in 1866-1868.

MATERIALS: the church is faced in knapped flint with gault brick dressings. The roofs are tiled.

PLAN: the building has a cruciform plan with a polygonal apse at the east end.

EXTERIOR: the church has stepped buttresses, angled at the corners. Over the crossing is a shingled fleche with a louvred base. The fenestration comprises paired or single lancets in dressed stone surrounds, except at the east end (triple lancets), the west end (cusped lancets beneath a quatrefoil), and the transepts (quatrefoil oculi). The nave has a gabled south porch which, along with the west, south and north gables have stone kneelers and apex crosses (only the bases of the north and south crosses remain).

A small square structure stands in the corner of the nave and north transept, originally a vestry and later converted to use as a WC.

INTERIOR: the interior has been stripped of its liturgical furnishings and other permanent fixtures. Stained glass survives in the east and west windows. The east windows (1866) depict the Crucifixion and was produced by the distinguished London firm of Heaton, Butler and Bayne. The west windows (1926) show the Virgin and Child, and the Visitation, produced by Powells of Whitefriars, London. Victorian stencilling also survives around the polygonal apse.

The complex roof structure survives intact. Over the nave is a crown post roof with arch-braced collars, side and collar purlins, and tie beams supported on corbels. Over the crossing is an elaborate intersection of raised tie beams on corbelled arch braces and a central king post. The chancel and transepts have common rafters with collars and scissor braces.

Sources

Books and journals
Bradley, Simon, Pevsner, Nikolaus, The Buildings of England: Cambridgeshire, (2014), 637

Websites
ICBS Plan in the archive of Lambeth Palace Library, identifier ICBS06318 "ELY, St. Peter, Prickwillow", accessed 03/11/2025 from https://images.lambethpalacelibrary.org.uk/luna/servlet/detail/LPLIBLPL~34~34~112134~116931?sort=identifier%2Cdate%2Ctitle%2Crights&qvq=q:prickwillow;sort:identifier%2Cdate%2Ctitle%2Crights;lc:LPLIBLPL~34~34&mi=0&trs=1

Other
Tithe Map for the Parishes of Holy Trinity and St Mary, Ely, 1846
Ordnance Survey 25" map sequences from 1886
"Pastoral Measure Report: Prickwillow, St Peter", Church Buildings Council, 2010.

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