Church of All Saints, Little Shelford

The Church of All Saints stands at the centre of Little Shelford, a Cambridgeshire village beside the old crossroads. Thirteen lime trees mark the spot where the market cross once stood, and the church itself began before the Normans came. Inside, Saxon carvings hide beneath a tiny Norman window, while a coffin stone in the porch may be even older. The 13th-century chancel arch rests on a queer animal with human arms, and the 14th-century chancel still holds four more carved stones. A Jacobean oak pulpit and a 600-year-old font complete the early furnishings. The de Freville family, Lords of the Manor, left their mark on the church. Their 15th-century chapel, reached by three stairs, contains fine stonework around a piscina and a canopy over a saint’s figure. Fragments of medieval glass remain in the chapel windows, and the chancel holds several memorials. Sir John de Freville’s alabaster tomb from the early 1300s carries an inscription in Norman French. Nearby, a brass from 1405 shows Robert and Claricia de Freville with their son Thomas, clasping hands beside greyhounds and dogs. Another brass portrait belongs to the rector John Cate from the same century. Visitors enter through an ancient door into the small sacristy, where three piscinas line a windowsill. The arcaded pulpit rises above the nave, and the font beneath the tiny spire is six centuries old. Steps lead up to the de Freville chapel, where stone ornament and old glass catch the light. The chancel stalls display the family’s coat of arms, and the brass memorials tell their story in detail. The church’s Grade II* listing recognises its long history and the craftsmanship of each century.