A HISTORY OF HOLY TRINITY CHURCH, BOTTISHAM
-6-
along the old Roman road from distant quarry lodges. Perhaps the flints, for the
outstanding work in the nave walls at Bottisham, were knapped in Norfolk. In the
fourteenth century it was common for flooring bricks (Flanders) to come from
Holland, transported most of the way by water.
THE CHURCH STRUCTURE .
The general plan of Holy Trinity church is shown on the end-cover
page. Some unusual features, which will be described in more detail later in the
text, are the Galilee extending west from the tower, and the extension of the nave
around the north and south faces of the tower. Other interesting features of the
exterior will become apparent as other parts of the building are described below.
THE GALILEE
[GALILEE Derivation conjectural, likely from Latin ‘galeria’
meaning long portico, or porch (western). ]
This two-story extension to the west of the tower is of the first half of
the thirteenth century - ‘Transition’ to ‘Early English’. The galilee was erected
after the tower but was the second phase of a common plan. The western door is
surmounted by a lofted, pointed arch. The moulding and chamfered edge of the
arch form a surround to the recess filled with flints. It has been suggested that the
building of the galilee was influenced by the work of the mason of Ely Cathedral,
which has a beautiful galilee of a similar date (Bottisham is in the See of Ely). It
is not unreasonable to suppose that the Ely master mason had contact with the
mason at Bottisham. The west end of Ely cathedral was completed in the early
thirteenth century when Bishop Eustace began to remodel the existing Norman
walls to form the galilee. It is thought that the flint work of the west wall is
contemporary with the rest of the galilee at Bottisham but, if it was later, then the
original galilee would have had a form more like that at Ely. Above the western
door is a grating giving light to the first-floor room. The flooring of this room is
of a later date and now has access by a staircase, with distinct wave-profile
balusters, of the Charles II period.
Above the grating over the western entrance to the church, is a recess
(tabernacle) for a long lost image. The galilee could have been used by a retired
priest or benefactor. One of several early fourteenth-century ‘Guilds’ formed in
Bottisham, was that of ‘Holy Trinity’. The guild’s objectives included
maintaining a candle at festivals before the image of the Trinity, repairs to the
church fabric, and providing vestments, books and ornaments for the church. The
guild gave assistance to the poor. It is not known where the Holy Trinity Guild (or
the Corpus Christi, St. Nicholas, St.Peter or St. John guilds) held their regular
meetings prior to the dissolution of the guilds; the galilee room would have been
an ideal place