Chatteris.

Being the best day of the week weather wise we hopped aboard a Stagecoach X9 service to Chatteris for our weekly trip out. Only about 20 minutes out of March, Chatteris is a town on the way to Cambridge.

Town plaque. Chatteris town clock in the Jubilee Gardens refurbished 2004.

The town dates back to known records of 679 AD and excavations suggesting a stone age existence.The name is derived from the Anglo Saxon CAETERIC-CETO (a wood) and RIC (a river). In 1306 the whole town was destroyed by fire which raged on until 1310. It must have been a peat fire or the like to have lasted that long.

This house was in the news this evening. Annoying yobs were pelted with marbles by a resident.

Needless to say the local church (St Peter & St Paul)  was also destroyed and over the following centuries has gone through many alterations and additions. In 1880 the church had fallen on hard times and was becoming derelict. It wasn’t until 1901 that restoration was started but suffered from lack of funds. In 1904 the restoration fund was given a boost by a bequest by a former choirboy and Sexton’s son who had emigrated to the USA and made a fortune leaving the bequest in his will.

Beautifully carved wood in St Peter's and Paul's church Chatteris.

With ongoing fund raising the job was completed and the church was reconsecrated in 1916.  More fund raising begun in the 1980’s up until 2006  with more restoration and additions. Today the church is probably one of the best kept churches we have visited and a credit to all those loving tend it.

Beautifully carved pulpit in St Peter's and Paul's Church Chatteris. The centre aisle.