St Catherine, Litlington
St Catherine, Litlington
St Catherine is a Grade II* parish church on Church Street, Litlington, Cambridgeshire, in the Diocese of Ely and the Shingay group of churches.
- Location
- Litlington, Cambridgeshire
- Country
- England
- County
- Cambridgeshire
- City / town
- Litlington
- Address
- Church Street, Litlington, Cambridgeshire, SG8 0QL
- Postcode
- SG8 0QL
- Built
- 12th-century chancel; 13th–14th-century nave and tower; restored 1870
- Architect
- Vialls of London (1870 restoration)
- Denomination
- Church of England
- Dedication
- Catherine
- Diocese
- Ely
- Parish
- Litlington
- Grade
- II*
- Style
- Medieval Gothic with Perpendicular clerestory
- Materials
- Flint rubble with clunch and limestone dressings; lead-covered roofs
- Grid reference
- TL 309 427
- Opening hours
- Usually open daily from 10am to 4pm.
- Access
- Accessible toilets in church
Overview
Historic England records a twelfth-century chancel with north and south walls remaining, an early-thirteenth-century tower and a former north nave chapel with a double-arcaded entrance, early-fourteenth-century north and south aisles, and a third tower stage, chancel clerestory and south-aisle windows of about 1500. The north nave chapel was later demolished and a vestry built on the site by Dr W. Webb, vicar, around 1840. Repairs of about 1807 were followed by a complete restoration in 1870 by Vialls of London; the tower and walls were repaired around 1950. Walls are flint rubble with clunch and limestone dressings and lead-covered roofs.
The south elevation shows a three-stage tower with an embattled parapet, a largely rebuilt south porch, and a five-bay nave arcade. Capturing Cambridge notes a fourteenth-century carved headdress on a pier and graffiti including a reference to Francis Drake and the inscription ‘tam mari quam terra 1594’. The church is usually open daily from 10am to 4pm.