Bassingbourn - Saints Peter and Paul

The church of SS. Peter and Paul, erected in the 14th century, is a building of stone and flint, consisting of chancel, nave, aisles, south porch of the 15th century and an embattled western tower containing a clock and 5 bells, cast by Miles Graye in 1650: in the church are monuments to the Nightingale and Turpin families, including two to Jeffrey Nightingale, ob. 1664, and to Edw. Nightingale, ob. 1723 : the church was restored in 1865, at a cost of about £3,000, to which sum the Dean and Chapter of Westminster contributed £300: the tower arch has been opened, a vestry formed in the tower and fitted up for the reception of the library of rare theological works partly bequeathed to this parish in 1717 by Sir Edward Nightingale, a former owner of Kneesworth, to which additions have been made by different vicars: the east window is a memorial to the Rev. F. H. Bishop M.A. a former vicar, and his two daughters, and was presented by his widow and three sons: the window at the east end of the lady chapel was erected by Mrs. Nunn in memory of her husband, Dr Thomas Nunn, and his sister Mary and two brothers, John and Edmund Nunn: there are 600 sittings. The register dates from the year 1558, and the churchwardens' accounts from 1498.