Connington Church is one of Huntingdon’s most magnificent medieval churches, remarkable for being almost exclusively of one period. It contains a fabulous series of monuments to Sir Robert Bruce Cotton, antiquary extraordinaire, and his family, several celebrating his Scottish ancestry with more than a nod to James I and VI. Cotton had his country house, Conington Castle, next to the church, where he assembled his library of manuscripts and collected archaeological artifacts. Sadly, it was demolished in 1956. Today the church is in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust and access is b y request to the Trust. Join on this visit and we will save you the trouble.

We were to have visited Steeple Gidding church, also on the former Cotton (later Heathcote) estate and containing further monuments to the family. Sadly, there has been a structural issue and we are unable to visit the church.

After Conington we will now visit Sawtry All Saints church. Although it has no obvious Cotton connections, the church is nevertheless an outstanding church with a very fine medieval brass of Sir William and Lady Mary le Moyne. After the visit we will be serving tea and cakes

To complement the visit Philip Saunders will be giving a talk on the Cotton family, via Zoom at 7:30pm on 19th August. The link will be sent to members, so even if you cannot come on the 26th or prefer to visit the churches at another time you may like to join us on the talk.

To book your place contact David Smith at info@huntslhs.org.uk. The cost of the visit will be £10.