Little St Mary's
A Grade II* parish church on Trumpington Street that was Peterhouse's chapel until 1632.
Little St Mary's, also known as St Mary the Less, sits on Trumpington Street between Peterhouse and a Pembroke College development site. It has carried a Grade II* listing since 1950. This is an Anglo-Catholic parish of the Ely diocese, with a Sunday Mass and daily morning and evening prayer.
From Peter-without-Trumpington-Gate to Little St Mary's
Worship here reaches back to about the 12th century. Early records name the original church St Peter-without-Trumpington Gate, a label that kept it distinct from St Peter by the Castle. From 1207 it belonged to the St John's Hospital foundation, dedicated to the Evangelist. The Hospital is also where the story of Peterhouse begins: Bishop Hugh de Balsham decided the sick and his scholars were an awkward mix, and in 1284 he relocated the students to the Peterhouse site.
Peterhouse's fellows decided in the 1340s to rebuild the decaying church. The result, finished in 1352, was a joint college chapel and parish church, now dedicated to the Virgin Mary. In 1632 the college opened a chapel of its own and Little St Mary's went back to being a parish church alone.
Later history
The metaphysical poet Richard Crashaw served as a priest here between 1638 and 1643. In 1643 the iconoclast William Dowsing noted in his journal that he had broken down sixty pictures, popes and crucifixes in this church. Repairs to the sedilia and the Lady Chapel arch were never made. In 1741 the interior was refitted with panelling and box pews, and Sir George Gilbert Scott took the panelling out again in 1856-57. Thomas Henry Lyon designed the south, or Lady, Chapel, added in 1931.
The composer Pieter Hellendaal (1721-1799), of Dutch origin, who served as organist at Pembroke, Peterhouse and this church, lies in the churchyard.
Practical notes
Public opening times are not published; contact the parish before visiting.
Nearby
Within a few minutes' walk
