The present Parish Church of St Andrew's consists of two distinct buildings with separate histories. The Chicheley Chantry or Chapel dates from 1390 and much of the original structure still remains. The nave and chancel of the modern Church building date from 1749 after a medieval Church on the same site was completely demolished. The Chapel (mostly) survived the demolition although it was opened up to the body of the nave during the rebuilding.

Today, the Chicheley Chapel contains the best collection of religious monuments in Cambridgeshire and includes works by many of the most important English sculptors.

A Brief History

The Chicheley Chapel is of 14th century origin and is understood to have been founded around 1390 as the Chantry of Sir William de Staundon. A Chantry was a chapel or other part of a church endowed for a priest or priests to celebrate masses for the founder's soul. Sir William de Staundon owned "a mansion house" in Wimpole and he was a Master of the Grocer's Company. He had also been Lord Mayor of London in 1392 [and again in 1407 when he followed a certain Richard Whytyngdone!].

The following is a transcription of [parts of] the will of Sir William de Staundon:

"My body to be buried in St Andrew's Church, Wimpole, in the County of Cambridge near my late wife... one thousand masses to be said within three days of my death and 500 masses each quarter of the year next after my decease.

To Agnes my now wife the furniture in two of my chief rooms in my mansion house at Wimpole aforesaid with my best gilt cups, ewers, etc... bequests to servants, apprentices and others...

£160 to be devoted to a Chantry in the Parish Church of Wimpole and £20 sterling for building a new aisle to the Church... bequests to his poor tenants at Wimpole, Arrington and Whaddon including gifts of white and red herring and bread during the season of Lent..."

The central window in the north wall is an important example of 14th century glass. It contains 14 shields of families connected with Wimpole and the figure of a pilgrim. It is thought that the heraldry illustrates marriage alliances of the Ufford family, thought to have owned Wimpole some time before the Chicheleys.

In the 16th Century, the Chapel was still known as the Staundon Chantry. In 1428 the Wimpole estate was acquired by one Henry Chichele, then Archbishop of Canterbury. For the next two hundred and fifty years the Chicheley family [now spelt with a 'y'] gradually bought up the surrounding Cambridgeshire estates and began to use the Chantry for their own family interments. The only Chicheley monument surviving today is that of Sir Thomas Chicheley who died in 1616, although the West Wall bears the Arms and Crest of Chicheley and the South wall of the Chapel has a few re-positioned panels dating from this period.

The chapel was restored in 1732 by the 2nd Earl and Countess of Oxford. It is believed that at this point the chapel was not accessible from the old church and had a separate entrance.

In 1740 Wimpole was purchased by Philip Yorke, the Lord Chancellor.

In 1748 Philip demolished the medieval church building and completed the present church the following year. Although the chapel mostly survived, it was opened up to the new Church by removing much of the south wall. Philip was appointed the first Earl of Hardwicke in 1754, the first of the five Earls who owned Wimpole until 1894. The church and chapel you see today are dominated by religious monuments to four generations of the Yorke family.

During a later Victorian remodelling of the church in the late nineteenth century, the arch between the chapel and the body of the nave was reduced by nearly a half.

A plan of the church following
the 1868-1887 remodelling.

Designs for the remodelling survive, signed by George Evans in 1868, but it is believed the changes were not fully completed until 1887.

In 1997 it was found that the 14th century roof to the chapel was infested with death watch beetle. In 1999, the beetle infestation was treated, all the damaged timbers were replaced, and the roof was fully restored.

The Monuments

• Yorke Family Tree
• Full list of Yorke family members Buried at Wimpole.

 

The Chicheley Chapel. A pleasing group of memorials on the west wall.

Most of the religious monuments at Wimpole, which constitute by far the richest collection in the county, and include works by many of the most important English sculptors, are concentrated in the Chicheley Chapel.

Most prominent of the monuments, because it occupies the centre of the chapel, is the effigy of Philip, the 3rd Earl of Hardwicke (1757-1834) [= Yorke Family Tree] on an alter tomb, Philip lies asleep wearing the robes of the Garter, his coronet at his feet.

[Sir Thomas (the father) died at the early age of 38 in an outbreak of contagious fever or plague. The twelve months from February 1615 must have been a terrible year in Wimpole. The registers recorded 33 burials in 12 months - a full 20 percent of the population of the parish died. Thomas (the son) was just eighteen months old when he inherited.]

There is some evidence that the Chicheley monument originally stood as a free standing alter tomb positioned between where the monuments to the first and third earl now stand. The tomb was probably moved to the side wall in 1749 during Philip Yorke's construction of the new Church. The granite slab in the floor probably marks the original position and this may also be the capping stone of the "new vault" recorded in the Wimpole parish registers. Many of the Chicheley family were buried in the "new vault", including Sarah (died 1654) first wife of son Thomas, Lady Savile (died 1662) second wife of Thomas and heroine of the siege of Sheffield Castle, and their son Henry (died 1672). However, the definitive position of the "new vault" at Wimpole is yet to established. It is even possible the vault under the Chapel was built and used by the Chicheley family in the seventeenth century. If this is indeed the case, it indicates the vault was cleared and reused by the Hardwicke family from around 1812.

[During the English Civil War, Lady Savile had been the heroine of the siege of Sheffield Castle in Yorkshire, when she had held out against the forces of parliament until her own soldiers persuaded her to give up since she was on the point of giving birth. Her enemies were so impressed that she was guaranteed her freedom - which she used in furthering the Royalist cause by acting as a 'spy'.]

Sir Thomas Chicheley died in London in 1698 and his body was returned to Wimpole to lie in his father's tomb in the Chicheley Chapel. "Sir Thomas, Knight was wrapt up in woolen and buried Feby 7th whereof an Affidavit was made by William Bevan of ye Parish of St Bride's in ye city of London, and sent from thence to ye Rector of this Parish according to ye Act of Parliament in case made and provided." The reason that Thomas does not have his own memorial is that by the time of his death, Wimpole had been sold (1686) and the Chapel was now owned by the Earl of Radnor.

On the left of Sir Thomas Chicheley's tomb, is the monument designed and executed by Peter Scheemakers to commemorate the Hon Charles Yorke (1722-1770) [= Yorke Family Tree], his first wife Catherine Yorke (née Freeman) (died 1759) [= Yorke Family Tree] and his second wife Agneta Yorke (née Johnston) (died 1820) [= Yorke Family Tree]. The Lord Chancellor's purse is shown below his portrait medallion, a sad reminder that he held the Great Seal for only a day before his tragic death in 1770.

[Most commentaries record that Charles Yorke died suddenly after his appointment to Lord Chancellor, a post that had been held by his father. Some sources goes further "It is evidence of the intensity of political feeling at this time that, before he could act upon this decision [the decision to accept the office of Lord Chancellor which, despite Yorke's misgivings, George III had prevailed upon him to agree to] Yorke in a frenzy of anguish and excitement cut his own throat and died." ( J. Steven Watson "The Reign of George III].

On the right of Sir Thomas Chicheley's tomb is the earliest of the Yorke memorials, the monument to Catherine Yorke (née Freeman) [= Yorke Family Tree] the first wife of the Hon Charles Yorke, designed by James 'Athenian' Stuart and sculptured by Peter Scheemakers. Catherine died during childbirth in 1759 and the baby (also named Catherine) was interred alongside her mother.

To the far right is a wall plaque commemorating Charles Philip Yorke, 4th Earl of Hardwicke (1799-1873) [= Yorke Family Tree] incorporating the Arms of Yorke surmounted by an Earl's coronet. The 4th Earl's coffin lies in the Family Vault beneath the Chapel.

The window on the left is 18th century but contains fragments of late or early 15th century glass. It was restored in 1999. The window on the right is modern.

The central window (seen right), with three cinquefoiled lights with flowing tracery, is of considerable interest and an important example of 14th century glass. It contains 14 shields of families connected with Wimpole and the figure of a pilgrim.

The arms in the window head are of Tiptoft, Avenell, Bardolf and possibly Talemache. In the first light, England with a label, Lisle, France Ancient quartering England, and Bassingbourn. In the second light above the pilgrim, Bohun and Engaine, and in the third light three shields of Ufford, two differenced and one of Bassingbourn. Border quarries are blazoned with lions of England, fleurs-de-lis of France, cups of Galicia and the castles of Castile.

(East Wall)

The imposing neo-classical sarcophagus between the windows is the monument for Philip Yorke, 1st Earl of Hardwicke (1690-1764) [= Yorke Family Tree], and of his wife Margaret Yorke (née Cocks) [= Yorke Family Tree] who died in 1761. Philip and Margaret had six children.

The Chicheley Chapel. The imposing monument to Philip Yorke, First Earl of Hardwicke, and his wife Margaret Cocks.

The monument in white marble was designed by James 'Athenian' Stuart and sculptured by Peter Scheemakers. James Stuart wrote to Thomas Anson, "...on one side is Minerva, not the warlike but the eloquent, and therefore instead of the lance she holds a caduceus [the rod of hermes]... On the other side is Pudicitia, the matronal virtue. She is veiled and holds a stem of lilies... of the two middle-most [children] one collects the Mace and Purse [of the Lord Chancellor's office] and the other crowns it with a garland."

[Philip Yorke was Lord Chancellor from 1737 to 1756. As one of the longest serving Lord Chancellors, he was pre-eminent in shaping the law of equity and some of the legislation he framed still affects our lives today, notably his Marriage Act of 1753.

The introduction of Lord Hardwicke's Marriage Act meant that for the first time all marriages in England had to take place in the Church of England, Jewish Synagogue or Quaker Meeting, otherwise they were deemed invalid. It also required a formal and documented ceremony of marriage and required that banns should be published, or a licence obtained. The Act also stated that if parties to a marriage were under 21 years old, then the parents had to give prior consent. Hardwicke's Act stopped the casual and clandestine marriages of the period and left us the basis of the laws on marriage that apply to this day.]

The two windows in the east wall are modern.

Beneath the wall are two floor slabs, one for Rev Thomas Sheepshanks (c1752-1818), fellow of St John's and Rector of Wimpole Parish between 1794 - 1818, and the other for Richard Beek (died 1671).

(West Wall)

A small shaped tablet with two arms carved on the apron, commemorating the Rev Charles Yorke (died 1791 aged 26) [= Yorke Family Tree] and Mary Yorke (died 1795) [= Yorke Family Tree], two of the children of the Rt. Rev. James Yorke, Bishop of Ely [= Yorke Family Tree].

A white marble scroll (right) with embellishments, commemorating Elizabeth Yorke (née Lygon) [= Yorke Family Tree] who died in 1766, the wife of the Hon. John Yorke MP. Monumental Inscription. An inscription tablet surmounted by sarcophagus dated 1798, commemorating General Sir Joseph Yorke KB, Lord Dover [= Yorke Family Tree] (c1723-1792), third son of the 1st Earl of Hardwicke, and his Danish wife Christine Charlotte Margaret Yorke, Lady Dover (née de Stocken) [= Yorke Family Tree], who died in 1793. Sir Joseph was a soldier and diplomatist. He was aide-de-camp to the Duke of Cumberland at the Battles of Fontenoy in Belgium (1745) and Culloden in Scotland (1746), and was later English Ambassador at the Hague.

A white marble stele (left) with kneeling female mourner sculptured by Thomas Banks, commemorating Philip Yorke, 2nd Earl of Hardwicke (1720-1790) [= Yorke Family Tree]. Monumental Inscription.

A white marble memorial by Westmacott the elder in Greek style, with two parents in attitudes of grief with reclining child at their feet, commemorating the Hon John Yorke MP [= Yorke Family Tree] the youngest son of the1st Earl of Hardwicke, who died in 1801.

Above left are the Arms and Crest of Chicheley.