Sunday 28 April 2019

A Couple Of Oddities

Every so often I come across buildings which initially cause puzzlement as they don't fall neatly within the usual categories. Neither of this pair are particularly easy to find: the first requires you to get severely lost while following the designated tourist route through St John's College, the second needs a passenger who is observant and nosey while the driver concentrates on negotiating a country road.

School Of Pythagoras



The strange building above is now part of St John's College, Cambridge, but for most of its life it was part of Merton College, Oxford - this needs a little explanation!

It was built around the year 1200 and was probably originally a manor house. In 1266 it was bought by Merton College, Oxford, shortly after the college's foundation. In these early days colleges were not at all popular with the general population. Many saw them as existing merely to train more tax-collectors. Students were often accused of causing disturbances, while the townspeople were said to overcharge students for food and accommodation - not much has changed there then! Merton College therefore feared being run out of Oxford and as an insurance bought property in Cambridge, including this building.

The expulsion from Oxford never happened, but they continued to own the building till 1959, when they sold it to St John's. Over the years it was put to all sorts of uses, including being left as a ruin for many years. It's been much mutilated and altered, but is nevertheless the oldest secular building in Cambridge.

It has never been a school though and has nothing to do with Pythagoras. The name may be a witty student reference to its great age, but nobody really knows why it is so-called.


St Peter's Ruin



As my brother and I were tootling along, on our way to get a pub lunch in Eriswell, I spotted this odd-looking building standing across the field. What on earth could it be? The general shape of the building and the design of the roof suggest a dovecot, but dovecots don't have church windows in one end. This demanded investigation.

Luckily there was a notice board fixed to the door which explained the history. It was built originally as the church for the settlement of Little Eriswell and once boasted a gilded screen, known locally as "the golden gates of Eriswell". However it fell into disuse at least 400 years ago. Much of it was demolished and the stone re-used to build an odd two-storey porch on Lakenheath church. All that remained was part of the nave which was converted to first a dovecot, then a general farm building.



The building was renovated with help from English Heritage in 2012.


Take care.






18 comments:

  1. An interesting post to be sure. It makes you wonder how many other such anomalies exist.

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  2. I find the ages of the buildings fascinating. Not much around here from the 1200s.

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  3. Those are certainly ancient and strange buildings. And how great that you found out the history of them to share here with your photos. I don't understand why the first is considered non-secular, since it isn't church related. Doesn't that mean it would be secular, not related to religion? Maybe I got the definition backwards.

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    1. Sorry, Barbara, my mistake; that's me getting mixed up by changing my mind about what I was going to write and getting it all backwards. I have now updated it so it makes sense. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.

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  4. Hi John - love the Pythagoras naming idea ... but fascinating buildings and thanks for letting us know about them. History leaves us with wonders ... cheers Hilary

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  5. So glad these very old buildings are being cared for now. We seem to have got better at that, on the whole.

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  6. How amazing that part of the nave built over 400 years ago is actually still standing there John ✨

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  7. I love the last building with all its different bricks and construction over the years plainly in sight. A nice renovation.

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  8. I love the histories of these old buildings that you get to see, photograph, and share with us.

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  9. Fascinating buidings, how wonderful they are still standing after all this time after the poor treatment they have received over the years. The first building is quite beautiful:)

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  10. Does English Heritage get any of it's investment back after renovating this building? You said it's "across the field" so open to the public? I'm glad it's still surviving. And as for the first photo, only Pythagoras knows the origin of the name, and he's not talking.

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    1. English Heritage is a charity and while it charges an entry fee to its castles and stately homes, this property is not large enough to make a charge for viewing this building. There's a farm road leading past the building but no proper parking or facilities.The sign says that you can borrow the key from the farm office to see inside St Peter's. I can't imagine there's much to see inside after centuries of being used as a farm building.

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  11. Replies
    1. Yes, that's typical of dovecot roofs around here. The little triangular bit at the apex would have originally had holes in it for the doves to enter and leave.

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  12. I love how you always manage to find the history of places/buildings such as these. All interesting, too.

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