MEDIEVAL CHAPELS
ST. MARY MAGDALENE CHAPEL, Sturbridge, dates from the early 12th century. (fn. 20) In 1279
it was stated that the advowson belonged of right to
the burgesses, but had been usurped by Bishop
Hugh (1229–54). (fn. 21) The master of the hospital is
described as rector in 1279 and 1340. (fn. 22) An indulgence
was granted to the chapel in 1390. (fn. 23) The advowson
remained with the Church of Ely until the Reformation. The chapelry was valued at £10 10s. in 1535, (fn. 24)
and was expressly reserved to the bishop in 1544
when he leased the chapel and its lands to the Corporation for 40 years. In 1597 the chapel and lands
were leased for nine years to the Corporation by
Elizabeth I, who had presumably acquired them
with other Ely property, and in 1606 James I granted
the chapel to John Shelbury and Philip Chewte. It
subsequently passed with the Barnwell priory estate
to George Riste, and so through various hands to the
antiquary, Thomas Kerrich, who conveyed it to the
University in 1817 on condition that it was kept in
good repair and preserved unaltered. (fn. 25) The chapel
was maintained in accordance with this undertaking
until 1951, when the University conveyed it to the
Cambridge Preservation Society. At the same time
the society purchased from a third party the 6-acre
field, known as Chapel Close, in which the chapel
stands. The University contributed the cost of 1 acre
of the field; and the society undertook to maintain
the chapel, and to return it to the University together with not less than 1 acre of the surrounding
land, should it cease to be able to do so. (fn. 26)
The use of the chapel for worship seems to have
ceased in the 16th century. The survival of the
building is attributable to its association with the
fair. It served in turn as a storage place for the
lumber of the fair, as a victualling house, as a drinking-booth, as a stable, and as a barn. (fn. 27) But even
before the University acquired it in 1817 a restoration fund had been started, and it was used as a place
of worship by the labourers employed in building
the Eastern Counties Railway in 1844–5. (fn. 28) In 1949,
when the fabric was put in sound condition by the
University, the interior was made fit for use for
occasional services. (fn. 29)
ST. EDMUND'S CHAPEL, which gave its
name to the wealthy burgess family who owned it in
the 13th century, stood on the east side of the Trumpington Road, outside Trumpington Gate. Walter of
St. Edmund's, who acquired the property by marriage, is first mentioned in 1232; how much earlier
the chapel existed is unknown. The building is
called an ecclesia and its chaplain is styled custos or
rector, and there were burials there. (fn. 30) In 1270
Walter granted the advowson of the chapel to
Thomas, son of Clemence de Rissebrac, but it
appears to have reverted to Cecily of St. Edmund's,
who in 1290 made it over (fn. 31) with most of the
St. Edmund's estate to the canons of Sempringham,
and the property became St. Edmund's Priory. (fn. 32)
ST. LUCY'S CHAPEL, on the estate of the
Le Rus family, was on the west side of the Trumpington Road, opposite St. Edmund's; it is mentioned
in an indulgence of 1245. (fn. 33) In 1258 it became the
church of the Friars of the Sack. (fn. 34)
ST. ANNE'S hermitage chapel, founded by
Henry Tangmer (d. 1361), stood on the east side of
Trumpington Street. Its patronage, given by him
to Corpus Christi College, was successfully usurped
by the Corporation. Its chaplain is mentioned in
1399 when an indulgence was granted, and in 1458
the rector of St. Bene't's was licensed to perform
divine service there. In 1546 the church goods were
delivered to the town treasurers and the fabric of
the chapel was subsequently sold. The site, after a
series of leases, was sold to Joseph Finch in 1790. (fn. 35)
A chapel for the hermitage by the SMALL
BRIDGES was licensed for service in 1396; it is
not otherwise mentioned, but the site figures in the
town accounts after 1522. (fn. 36)
A deed of 1607 refers to a chapel of ST. JOHN
OF JERUSALEM in Castle End, standing back
from the Huntingdon Road, 192 feet beyond the
castle. (fn. 37) Nothing more is known of it.