EYE & PASTON
Church Post Code PE6 7UU
EYE : CHURCH OF ST MATTHEW
Closed to visitors - open by arrangement.
Summer had edged in to autumn; the summer of 2022, with its record breaking heat had gone and this revisit to the church of St Matthew, Eye was on a day of changeable weather. The exterior was shot in brilliant sunshine, but it was dark and threatening over Bill’s mothers, who obviously lived towards Thorney! It was dark enough when shooting the interior a few minutes later that the lights had to be put on. An hour later Peterborough bus station was flooded and the sandbags were out; leaving this an even more depressing place than normal.
Eye is a village of some 4500, which can be found some five miles north east of Peterborough. It has illustrious neighbours in the Abbey villages of Crowland and Thorney, a few miles off to the north and east respectively. The church of St Matthew sits alongside the main road which runs through the village; with some delightful old buildings off to the west, with one of these boasting a large arch which would have allowed access to horses and carts back in the day.
At the south west of the church grounds is the old Eye fire station, a simple one cell building which dates back to 1826. It was a little quieter in the vicinity of the church than on my previous visit; the busy motorcycle dealership having moved, replaced by a funeral home.
There was a church in Eye long before the present structure was built; the foundations of today’s church being set down in May 1846. There was a place of worship consecrated here in 1543. It is thought though that it was only consecrated at that time so that the local inhabitants had the right of burial there. It is thought that the structure itself might date from 200 years earlier. It was known locally as the 'chapel of Eye' a visual of which appears on the village sign.
Local legend states that the previous church had been burned down. However, it is suggested in other places that the real reason is that the church was replaced due to it being too small to accommodate a growing population. The local history booklet notes that no contemporary press reports were seen detailing a fire.
The church that we see today is cruciform in structure; consisting of west tower, nave, north and south transepts, south vestry and chancel. The three stage tower has angels at the four corners, with a parapet of repeated ‘x’s running along the top. The church clock is in the traditional colours of blue and gold and looks out from the west face.
The church is buttressed throughout; and a look at the exterior from the south west shows how short the chancel is! There are no aisles or clerestories here. There is a paved area in the church grounds to the south of the church itself and I wondered if this was the site of the original church here!
The present church was designed but not built by George Basevi ; a noted architect who sadly did not live to see the first stone laid. He was killed in an accident at Ely Cathedral in 1845 after he fell through an opening in the bell chamber whilst inspecting ongoing work.
A spire was added some 10 years later and was visible from far away due to the flat nature of the surrounding landscape, which took the total height of the church to 125 feet. This spire did not last all that long sadly and a storm in 1895 damaged the spire and the roof. In the 1950's some serious defects were found in the spire and despite being fixed the spire was taken down in the early 1980's after large cracks were found running through it.
There are two bells in the ring here. One of these was courtesy of Peterborough founder Henry Penn in 1712. This bell is inscribed ‘Henry Penn Fusore 1712’. The Latin word Fusore is translated as a founder, a caster and a melter! The second of the ring is from John Warner in 1865.
The church here is normally closed to visitors, but I had arranged to have the church opened and was very grateful for the help to see inside. Moving inside and the lights were necessary, with a little light rain starting to fall as we made our way inside. Two rows of Victorian pews lead up to a wide chancel arch. Each transept is very large, with the north side taken up with the church organ and the south transept having an altar set up against its eastern wall.
In the chancel itself, the east window; which I will look at in a few moments, is of stained glass. On either side of the window are boards on which are the Ten Commandments, the Lord’s Prayer and the Creed. The reredos takes the form of the village War Memorial for those who fought, and who were killed, in the First World War.
The panelling of the reredos continues on to the north and south walls of the chancel, and is built around a pre reformation piscina, in which the holy vessels would have been washing during Mass. This is one of the few surviving features of the previous church. This is where it is supposed to be; on the south wall of the chancel and would probably have the sedilia; the seating for the clergy at the side of it. However, this piscina is not in situ, it was found in the vicarage garden in 1895 and was built back in to the church at that time in its proper place.
Standing at the chancel arch and looking west there is a balcony which runs across the length of the west wall; and my eye was caught with a very appetising display of homemade jams; once again proving that churchcrawling and food are strongly linked!
The east window of the chancel is a delight; and is one of my favourite to be found within the catchment area of this site. According to British Listed Buildings it was made by Gibbs. The window is dated 1863 so this would make it the work of Alexander Gibbs who worked out of premises in London.
There are seven scenes from the life of Christ; or prior to the life of Christ to be honest with the first scene on the left depicting the annunciation, with the nativity below that. On the right at the top we have John the Baptist baptising Jesus and below that we have Jesus at prayer at Gethsemane prior to crucifixion. Running between these are three panels detailing, from bottom to top, the crucifixion the resurrection and the ascension. A fabulous piece of work; the Gospels in a single window!
There is a lot of stained glass here, of really good quality, and it was good to spend a little time looking around it.
The other glass here includes a beautiful depiction on the south wall of the nave of Simeon holding the baby Jesus, with beautifully vibrant colours in Simeon’s robe. A window depicts the calling of Matthew, after who the church id dedicated, shows Jesus choosing Matthew, a tax collector, one of the most hated people in the Jewish society. Alongside him on a table is a bag of money, seal and quill.
There is another depiction of St Matthew close by, alongside St Luke, with each holding a Bible whilst dressed in golden robes.
In the north aisle there is a depiction of Mary and Joseph attempting to find lodging as they arrive for the census. A heavily pregnant Mary sits on a quite nonplussed donkey while Joseph, who faces away from the onlooker, tries to find shelter.
Stained glass in the south transept shows another depiction of the resurrection. The risen Christ emerges from the tomb, wound visible and hand raised in blessing. The Roman soldiers have their swords in their hands but are asleep; Angels with vibrant multi coloured wings are at prayer off to one side.
There is little to be seen from the old church; but the font does have great age. This is heavily damaged, with the top half dating from the 14th century. Why this font was effectively cut in half across the middle, I am not sure.
When Revd Sweeting compiled his study of the parish churches in the Peterborough area, which was published in 1868, the church here was a little over 20 years old. He described the church grounds here as being ‘small and very overcrowded’. He noted that several of the gravestones had been laid flat for paving.
Things are very different today. With the exception of a couple of chest tombs there is nothing standing in the church grounds. A few stones are laid upright against the perimeter wall of the churchyard on the west side; but quite few to be honest and I suspect that the majority of the stones here will have been destroyed over the years. The churchyard here has been closed to burials since 1866.
There is little of interest in what remains to be honest, but a human skull is just still discernible at the foot of one of the gravestones; reminding the onlooker that Man is mortal and will die.
To the east of the church are a couple of impressive chest tombs, each of which predates the current church. One of these is dated to 1773 and features the tools of the trade for a butcher.
I enjoyed my time here very much. This is a beautiful church with much of interest and plenty of history; some of which has been lost in the mists of time. It just goes to show that a church doesn’t have to have hundreds of years’ worth of history for it to be worthwhile looking around. Worth taking a look at if you are in the area.
PASTON : CHURCH OF ALL SAINTS
Church Post Code PE4 7UN
Normally closed to visitors
It was January 4th 2026; Epiphany Sunday, and my 61st birthday. I took a Sunday morning off from my regular church and decided to attend a service at All Saints at Paston instead; this partially due to the fact that I wished to reshoot this church for the website.
This was a revisit; having previously taken in an evening prayer here with David back in the autumn of 2013. Lighting conditions were far from ideal after that service finished and I promised to revisit one day and see the church in better light. It was a freezing cold but bright day for this revisit; which took over 12 years to come to pass! No point in rushing!
Paston is one of the villages that surrounded Peterborough which have been pretty much swallowed up as Peterborough itself expanded. The National Gazetteer of Britain in 1868 described Paston as to be found 2 ½ miles to the north west of Peterborough and including the hamlets of Gunthorpe, Werrington and Walton. Well, these certainly couldn’t be described as hamlets now!
In 1929 the population of the parish was recorded at 182; which is less than half of the present capacity of the junior school which has places for 420! The parish population at the time of the census of 2021 was over 18,200. Such was the rural feel here that All Saints was known as the ‘church in the fields’.
Paston itself was not mentioned as a settlement in the Domesday Survey of 1086 with the oldest surviving part of the structure itself is the north chantry chapel which dates back to 1220. Having said this though, there is a carving set in to the plaster, at the west end of the nave which dates from the 12th century.
The church that we see today consists of west tower with spire, nave with north and south aisles and clerestories, south porch, north chapel, north vestry and chancel.
Approaching the church through a lychgate to the south west; the spire rises up above some trees; with a giant yew tree close to the south porch suggested to date from the 15th century. The lychgate was added in 1922, and acts as a war memorial to those in the parish who fell in World War One.
The square perpendicular three stage tower dates from the early 14th century, with stair turret at the south eastern corner. An octagonal broach spire rises up, with two tiers of gabled lucarne windows at the main compass points.
The spire, and the south porch, which was very difficult to photograph from the front due to the yew, are each said to date from the 15th century. This was a major time of rebuilding here with the nave and south aisle also being rebuilt at that time along with the addition of the clerestories. The clerestories take the form of four three light windows, with the east window of four lights.
This is an unremarkable exterior to be fair; partially hidden behind the trees and with little in the way of carvings; with no gargoyles or grotesques. The usual Victorian restoration gives us the church that we see today.
Thomas North’s study of the church bells in Northamptonshire, of which county Paston was a part of at that time, when it was published in 1878 took a look at the bells here. At that time there were three bells in the ring here with the first of the ring cast by Tobias Norris I, who founded the Stamford Bellfoundry. This bell is dated 1607 and is inscribed ‘OMNIA FIANT AD GLIRIEM DEI’ which translates as ‘let all things be done for the glory of God’.
The second was cast by Joseph Eayre of St Neots. This bell is undated but this founder was active between 1733 and 1772; and is inscribed with the name of the Rector of the day John Lyde and church warden Thomas Henson.
The third of the ring is the oldest and was cast by Watts of Leicester in 1601. My spell checker normally hates Watts’ inscription, with its archaic English and but this one simply reads ‘Praise the Lord’. The situation with regards the bells here is identical today.
All Saints is normally closed to visitors out of service times. It was good to be able to see inside again. I arrived early and took a look around the interior. The Christmas tree was still up and the nativity was against the font; awaiting the addition of the wise men who would be arriving from the east end of the north aisle during the course of the first hymn. A screen was out for the service which was rolled up again at the completion of the service.
There are four bay arcades to north and south with the north arcade dating to the late 12th century with the south arcade being added during the 13th century. Each arcade is architecturally the same with octagonal piers, with moulded capitals and pointe arches. The oak scree which sits under the chancel arch is 500 years old and was once removed before being put back in during the 19th century.
The congregation here was such that a balcony, which is no longer here, was erected at the west end to cater for the increased numbers. Two figures at either side of the tower arch are said to be a monk and a nun, with each figure having a hood pulled over their heads.
An arch at the east end of the north aisle now contains the church organ but would have led in to the chantry chapel; with access also through two arches in the north wall of the chancel. In pre reformation days, priests would have been employed by the wealthy who had founded the chantry to say or sing Masses for the souls of their families, to help lessen the time that they would have to spend in purgatory after death.
Moving in to the chancel there are medieval sedilia and piscina in their traditional positions against the south wall. The triple sedilia were the seating for the priests during the Mass with the piscina being a bowl in which the holy vessels used during the Mass would be washed. The carved oak reredos stretch the width of the chancel and has carvings of the four gospel writers.
There are two stained glass windows at this church; to be found at the east and the west. The four light east window contains stained glass containing eight scenes concerning Jesus. On two levels; the top level reading from left to right depicts The Annunciation, with the Angel Gabriel appearing to Mary to tell her that she will give birth to Jesus.
We then see the nativity with Mary and Joseph alongside the manger with the baby Jesus attended by a golden haired angel. We then see Jesus baptised by John the Baptist and finally Jesus carrying his own cross to the place of crucifixion, with two of the three Mary’s (Mary the mother of Jesus and Mary Magdalene) looking on.
Lower down we see depictions of the three recorded instances of Jesus bringing someone back from the dead. We see the raising of the son of the Widow of Nail, the raising of Jairus’ daughter and the raising of Lazarus. The final of the eight is the resurrection with the risen Christ emerging from the tomb; with Roman guards asleep in the foreground.
Against the south wall of the chancel we see a wall monument to Edmund Mountsteven; an Elizabethan businessman who, amongst other things, left money to fund almshouses. He kneels facing east, enclosed within an archway, hands raised in prayer, wearing a small ruff and long flowing gown.
The other stained glass to be seen here is at the west wall of the tower; this being a single light depiction of Jesus being presented to Simeon in the Temple. The font is plain and octagonal and is said to ne Norman in date. This would make it the oldest surviving item in the church; and pre dating the present structure.
The church grounds are of great interest with some richly carved stones; filled with symbolism. All of that symbolism though is summed up succinctly by one stone which has text across the top which reads ‘Be Ye Also Ready’.
Much of the symbolism that we see on gravestones is along these lines; memento mori, remember death, remember that you will go the same way as the deceased. Therefore, live a good Christian life; trust in God and do not be caught lacking when your own time comes. And in those days of low life expectancy, it could be later than you think.
We see a carving of a human skull, with crossed bones beneath and a scroll above which has script which has long since faded away. All symbols of the mortality of Man. Close by we see similar, with a winged hourglass alongside the skull and bones. This symbolises tempus fugit, time flies, with the sands of time having run out for the deceased.
Elsewhere we see an angel holding aloft a crown; with the crown here symbolising victory over death. Close by we see an angel in flight blowing a trumpet; this being an often used symbol for the resurrection of the body on the final day. As well as each of these also being a reminder to the onlooker that they are mortal and will die each of these can also be seen as a testament as to the faith of the deceased.
At one point Peterborough itself was the smallest Cathedral city in the country; surrounded by villages and hamlets all of which have now been swallowed up. Today this is a busy but fairly quiet area; with a ten minute walk or so to the south bringing us to Lincoln Road which is heaving and to not everyone’s taste to be fair.
When I was putting this together I was looking at the gravestones and one of the names was to Mary the wife of Robert Bodger who died in 1812. The thought crossed my mind as to how different she would have found things from her day. Some things would be better; some things worse but without doubt the only thing that she would recognise would have been her church!
The church here is worth taking a look at if you can; it was time spent with a friendly and family centred congregation and I left uplifted which should always be the case but isn’t necessarily so to be fair from my experiences over the years. I left with some pleasant memories and a birthday card.
Interior shots used on this page are from the January 2026 visit; exterior shots used though are from a visit from a few years earlier on a glorious early winter morning.