Fenstanton and Henlow

From Cambridge we went to Fenstanton and Henlow - John's family is from Fenstanton and Elizabeth's family is from Henlow:

The Reverend Rosie Tallowin held a wonderful service at the church of St. Peter and St Paul in the village of Fenstanton. The parishioners made us all feel welcome. After the service were spent some time looking around the church and some of us had a chance to ring the bell the Howland Society had donated to the church in 1984, replacing the one missing from the set of bells in the tower.  

Howland board member, Lynda Hylander (left) and Howland Quarterly editor and board member, Gail Adams did their best not to let the bell rope pull them off the ground.

A few members of our tour were able to climb the bell tower to take the picture of the bell and cradle the bell is suspended from.

The picture of the Jabez Howland House in Plymouth, MA hangs on the back wall of the church.

We had a lovely lunch in their community hall behind the church and walked around the graveyard in the warm July sunshine. There is a record of Henry Howland, John's father, being buried in the church yard but the stone has been lost to time.

After we left Fenstanton we headed for Henlow but stopped first in the town of St Ivys to view the Medieval bridge and bridge chapel spanning the River Great Ouse. The stone bridge was completed in 1414 and the chapel was added by 1425.

On the left side of the bridge notice the rounded arches and compare them to the older pointed arches on the right. The left side of the bridge was removed during Cromwell's time and a draw bridge put in their place until 1716 when the arches were rebuilt but using the rounded style.

We arrived in Henlow just in time for tea.

The footprint of the church dates back to the 12th century. The building of St. Mary's dates back to the 15th century. Th tower was added later in the 15th century. John and Joan Tilley and John's brother Edward and his wife Ann all came from Henlow. A copy of the baptismal record for Elizabeth, John and Joan's daughter is kept at the church.

Despite the wonderful lunch at Fenstanton we were eager for the treats baked by parishioners at a lovely tea held for us in the church itself at Henlow.  There were many old family recipes for cakes and biscuits and even a honey cake made from a 17th century recipe.

We had a chance to view the magnificent stained glass, some of the older parts of the church and the candle commemorating the Queen's Jubilee, held in June. Later we worked off the tea with walking tour of the village that ended in a stroll around the grounds of the church yard.