Buckden - a Huntingdonshire Village

A HISTORY OF ST MARY’S, THE PARISH CHURCH 120 An angel playing a hurdy-gurdy men were sat apart also. The high-sided pews, of course, had no views to the back or sides, and thus focussed the congregation on the pulpit. At a public Vestry meeting in the church on 12 August 1774, it was decided to re-pew the church, so as to provide more space and divide the pews more evenly, and a levy of six pence (2.5p) in the pound was accordingly collected from the villagers. But before too long these new pews were found inadequate owing to the growing population. Coupled with the desire to increase the number of pews (and thus pew rent, as pews were rented out to families), this meant that the church was re-seated again in 1838. Fashion sometimes came to the forefront in Victorian times and as the old high and cramped box pews did not suit ladies’ crinolines, it was deemed appropriate once more to replace the older pews. Consequently, while St Mary’s did not suffer too much at the hands of the modernising Victorians, it again got new pews in 1886 to replace those barely fifty years old. Our current seating dates to 1909 when the church underwent a major refit. The architect, Sidney Inskipp-Ladds, recommended new pews that would be in sympathy with the other work involved. The congregation objected to throwing away perfectly good and comfortable twenty-year-old pews, but was overruled. During the re-pewing and the plaster removal of 1909, it was discovered that the Georgians had ruthlessly mutilated the piscinae and the aisle columns, in order to get the maximum income from wall-to- wall, front-to-back pews. Church Music Singing and music have resounded in St Mary’s from earliest times, and the tradition continues to this day. As previously noted, Bishop Remigius in 1067 required that Psalm 101 be sung in Lincoln Cathedral and Buckden church, no doubt in addition to other music. As we also saw, the carved heavenly choir above the chancel and the musicians in the south aisle probably mimicked the church choir and orchestra of the early 1400s, with their lutes, viols, dulcimers and hurdy- gurdy. The musicians played from the rood loft, at the top of the chancel arch, from c. 1470 until its destruction c. 1530. At that time, they probably moved to the western gallery, which was constructed in the tower. This gallery remained until 1909, when it was removed to permit the west door to be opened. The parish children were also seated in the gallery, and its removal meant that they could be relocated among the congregation, where they could be better controlled! Contemporary records during Bishop Williams’ time (1621-1641) tell us that in Buckden church they had ‘the Holy service of God well ordered and observed Noon and evening with music and organ and with sweetest voices’. The Churchwardens’ Accounts mention selling ‘the old orgyn’ in the 1640s. The use of the term ‘old’ may indicate that a replacement had been purchased. The present organ was installed in 1884; please see below for more detail of this instrument. The unpopular Bishop, a selfless Officer and the Flemish Panels Generally speaking, the nineteenth century at St Mary’s seems a little flat with no great building work going on, no larger-than-life characters and little scandal, but it was a time of consolidation, caring for the church and maintaining its fabric. We shall pick up on a few items that may interest the reader. It is ironic that the monument most visible to the seated congregation belongs to the least attractive of the bishops. A rather cold, marble figure of a grieving widow in the north aisle records the passing of the worst of the non-resident bishops, George Pelham, son of the Earl of Chichester and a social appointee. In his seven years as incumbent (1820-1827) there is no record of his visiting Buckden. Although he did visit it prior to his appointment, ‘[he went] sulkily down to look at Bugden...to see whether he will condescend to take it’. It was during a meeting of the nobility, at the funeral of the Duke of York in January 1827, that he caught a cold and died the following month. He was buried at the family estate near Lewes, Sussex. 1 Overriding the strong objections of a congregation that had never seen him, his widow insisted on erecting this monument to her late husband in Buckden church. It originally stood where the organ console 1 See also under Pelham in the A to Z Section.