Whilst there is evidence of life in Whittlesey from before Roman times, recorded history is not offered until 973AD . at this time King Edgar confirmed the gift of the estate of Whittlesey St Mary, bought by Aetholwold, Bishop of Winchester, from three saxons: Leofsig; Leofwine and Ufa, for £90 in pure silver. This included fishing rights in Whittlesey Mere. The estate was bestowed upon Thorney Abbey, which was rebuilt after Danes had destroted its predecessor.

The Domesday Survey of 1086 assessed the manor as:

'four hides with land for six ploughs. There were sixteen villeins (tied tenants) each with eight acres of land, six cotters and one serf.'

Whilst the landlord of Thorney Abbey, the soke (district of jurisdiction) was ruledover by the Abbot of Ely. At this time, although a church was not mentioned, the village would probably have been served by a wattle and daub mission chapel.

About 1128 a stone Norman church of Whittlesey St Mary was consecrated by Herve, first Bishop of Ely, on what would seem to have been his last visit to Thorney, before his death in 1131. A deed of privilege of Pope Alexander III states Herve bestowed this church with its tithes, by way of alms, on 'the morrow-day of the feast of St Bartholomew' (August 24th) to Thorney Abbey. The responsibility for providing St Mary's services led to Abbot Ralph the Simple appointing a priest to our parish in 1198.

In 1215 the appointment of vicars became compulsory for such parishes "appropriate" to religious houses. The names of our Vicars are recorded from 1338.

The growing town of Whittlesey was destroyed in 1244, so it is felt that our pesent building, and that of St Andrew's, dates from this time. Part of the north wall might be from the original Norman Building. The three eastern arches of the north arcade, the Chancel arch and the wall of the Chancel are all Early English style and date from about 1250.

it seems that at the turn of the century the Chancel, its arch and the north aisle wall were rebuilt. Between 1305 and 1322 William Clopton, who was now Bishop of Thorney, had a new gable built to the Chancel and adorned it with beautiful stained glass. Soon after this the nave was extended by one bay, as shown by the different style pillars.

Between 1330 and 1360 the church was extended to the south with a wide chapel, aisle and porch, these being in the Decorated style of architecture. The raised part at the eastern end of the south chapel denotes the area upon which an altar stood. A piscina is still to be found in the south wall. The platform was built originally to house the crypt. Prior to becoming the boiler room, it was the charnel house, to store bones removed from the grave yard, before its extension.

In 1404 Bishop Fordham gave the Vicar and parishioners license to change the dedication day to that of St Matthew’s day, which in our calendar is September 21st, so that the harvesting didn’t interfere with the giving of tithes.

The clerestory windows of the nave, south arcade pillars and south chapel arch are all Perpendicular style of about 1400. It is felt that the stairs to the roodloft would have been built at the same time. As the two upper doors are at different levels, it would seem to indicate different heights for the nave and aisle sections of the screen. Only the bottom of the screen survives and is to be found at the back of the nave.

Bishop Morton of Ely began the drainage of the Fens in 1478. Morton’s Leam was dug from Peterborough to Guyhirn.

In the late 15th Century the old tower was dismantled. It appears to have stood where we now see the two western arches. These arches have two windows over them and coving above, unlike the rest of the nave. The present tower and spire are considered to have been built between 1460 and 1480, as the flower ornament resembles that to be found on Fotheringhay’s church, dated 1457. It shows a distinctive Northampton style and was considered by Dr. F. J. Allen in his paper “The Church Spires of Cambridgeshire”, as

“the latest and most brilliant in our county and one of the finest spires in England”.

About 1500 St. Mary’s saw her final alteration in an extension to the Chancel and clerestory windows were added. The east window of five cinquefoil lights dates from this time. During the extension a second piscine was added in the south wall. The other to the west and the double sedilia are fourteenth century.

Essentially St. Mary’s was finally complete, although restoration has occurred on numerous occasions.

According to notes in the parish register the roof of the nave was repaired in 1704-08 an again in 1709. The roof of the Chancel was repaired in 1744, hence the gilded date.

Sir Gilbert Scott carried out extensive restoration work in 1862 at a cost of £3000. This involved the removal of the galleries and sky-lights, the reconstruction of the east end of the chapels and re-facing of the porch. Sir Gilbert found his clerk of works had destroyed and rebuilt the central north pillar. By working day and night with his men, the next two eastwards were saved. Some work to restore the south chapel back to its original use, from being a schoolroom was achieved from subscriptions raised on the death of Sir Harry Smith. A monument by Adams was installed in the south wall at the entrance to the chapel. Other restoration work included removal of the box pews in the nave, and the black and white signs of the tribes of Judah, which were between the clerestory windows, were covered.

Sadly, the wooden font that dated back to the 15th century was dismantled and replaced with our current stone one in 1840.

Repairs and restoration have become a continual part of maintaining this beautiful building. It seems a small price to pay considering she took medieval craftsmen nearly 250 years to build, to the Glory of God.