All Saints Church

With no village hall, shop, school. pub, surgery, or playground, Knapwell sees the church as its centre. Long ago, dwellings did cluster round the church - traces can still be seen - but the village grew away from its original hub to stretch along the High Street. The church remains the only public building in Knapwell.

History The records of Ramsey Abbey indicate that there was already a Church in Knapwell in the 12th century, but none of the existing building dates from before the 14th century. The 14th century tower still stands today, though much restored; but the main body of the church suffered from centuries of neglect and was ruinous by the 18th century.

In 1753 the chancel collapsed, and the Rector, Dr Pulter Forrester, obtained permission to rebuild 'the great rambling old chancel to one of smaller and more useful size'. However, the problems of the decaying structure were far from solved. In 1785 parts of the nave also collapsed and the church became unusable. For the next 80 years services were held in a village barn.

Worse was yet to come. In 1857 the Rev David Craig became Rector, but after only a few weeks he vanished and was found at the crossroads by the Black Mill, the crossing with the Elsworth, Boxworth road, in his nightshirt totally insane.

Eventually in 1861 the tide turned, when a certain Henry Brown was appointed curate and revealed himself to be a man of extraordinary qualities. He immediately set about raising money to rebuild the tumbledown church and collected the sum of £700 from villagers and friends. A grant of £65 was made by the Incorporated Society for Building Churches and the new church was completed in 1866.The ancient tower is built of fieldstones, glacial erratics found in the local boulder clay, and clunch, the soft limestone quarried in West Cambridgeshire. The original fabric of the church can best be seen from inside the church, as the exterior was refaced with pebbles and flints set in mortar when the nave was rebuilt in 1866. The old spiral staircase to the belfry is lit by narrow rectangular windows which pierce the South face of the tower.