According to Bray,[9] St Paul's was a conventional district in the parish of St Andrew-the-Less from 24 October 1842, and became a new parish in its own right on 4 July 1845, when it acquired some of the parish of St Andrew the Great.
"Historically significant as one of the new churches harshly criticised in the first issue of the Ecclesiologist, an important publication of the Gothic Revival but which possesses visual interest in its own right."
"The interior, in spite of reordering and change, retains spatial interest and some fixtures of note, particularly stained glass windows, and Temple Moore's work of the 1890s."
Poynter's original "design was vilified in the first issue of the Ecclesiologist by the Cambridge Camden Society in November 1841, for its lack of a chancel, for the use of brick instead of stone, and for the unornamented, late C16 or early C17 style."[2]
The Cambridge Camden Society was established in 1839 for the study of "ecclesiastical antiquities".[11]
The committee of the society published The Ecclesiologist from 1841 to 1868, arguing that architects should adopt a religious stance in their work.[11]
The design was criticised because its "style of architecture and plan of internal arrangement should have been after some approved ancient model."[11]
The following quotation (from the second edition of 1843) gives a taste of the article.
But there are many arrangements and details in this church which are on every other ground quite indefensible, even on the ground of cheapness. Such are the huge clock; the disproportionate octagonal Turrets; the great four-centered Belfry windows without cusping or mouldings; the figures 1 8 4 1 in the spandrils of the clock; the square clerestory-windows; the enormous windows in the Aisles; the mullions made to stand on the same plane as the wall; the square heads; the want of foliation; the jambs without mouldings; the graduated parapet of the Nave; the thin mullions and tracery of the east windows, the difference between the supports of the western and the other galleries; the startling contrast of the red brick and the white quoins of dressed ashlar; the trellis-work of black bricks; and many other things which time forbids us to notice.[12]
The critique in the second edition is toned down, however, following objections from senior church leaders to the first edition.
Still, Augustus Pugin reprinted the original in his Present State of Ecclesiastical Architecture (1842–43), and suggested it be circulated as a warning Beware of the Camden, to be "hung up in terrorem in every church-competing architect's office".[4]: 295–6
The chancel and vestry are additions of 1864, perhaps by H. G. Elborne.
North and south transepts are additions to the nave in 1893, to designs of Temple Moore.[2][4]: 295
The interior became a multi-use space in 1996, designed by Freeland Rees-Roberts.[4]: 295
Meeting rooms and porch were added 2012–13.[4]: 295
The former parsonage, built in St Paul's Road behind the church 1853–4, was designed by George Gilbert Scott for the then vicar, his brother, John Scott;
it is now the Cambridge Muslim College.[4]: 296
Until 30 September 2021, the Vicar was Michael Beckett.[16][17][18] He is the author of Gospel in Esther,[19] a typological reading of the Book of Esther. The book is based on a series of sermons, in which Beckett interprets Esther herself as a female exemplar of Christ. In a foreword to the book, Stephen Sykes, a former Bishop of Ely, describes St Paul's as a "parish church long noted for its attentiveness to the work of preaching". Beckett also wrote the book Authentic Church, a reflection on his experience at St Paul's.[20]
Jon Canessa was Associate Priest until August 2021, when he was appointed as Lantern Initiative Lead at Newcastle Cathedral.[16][21] He studied at Ridley Hall and completed training for ordination at Westcott House. Alongside his role as Associate Priest, he was the Bishop's Officer for Homelessness[22] and chaired the Cambridge Churches Homeless Project.[23]
In September 2021, St Paul's hosted a four-day arts festival, ArtsFest 2021.[24]
List of Responsible Clergy
The following list of clergy responsible for the parish is extracted from the record[9] of all clergy of the Diocese of Ely compiled by Gerald Bray. Following Bray's scheme, an "R" beside the date of termination means that the clergy resigned, retired or removed to another parish. Bray also documents all the curates who have served at St Paul's.
Herbert Carson[26] (1922–2003) graduated from Trinity College Dublin and was ordained in the Church of Ireland;
he was Vicar of St Paul's for seven years from 1958, having been Vicar of St Michael's, Blackheath Park, London, during 1953–1958.
He resigned the living of St Paul's in December 1964, and seceded from Anglicanism,
because of misgivings about liturgy, Establishment, bishops, and infant baptism.[27]
Subsequently, he was baptised as a believing adult with his wife Delphine.
He assisted Martyn Lloyd-Jones at Westminster Chapel London,
before becoming minister of Hamilton Road Baptist Church, Bangor, in 1967.
He was chairman of Evangelical Press, Darlington, during the 1970s.
In 1982, he moved to become minister of Knighton Evangelical Free Church, Leicester, and retired in 1988.
^ abBray, Gerald (2014). Ely Clergy Lists (Second ed.). Printed in four copies, one of which was deposited with the Diocese of Ely, another with the diocesan archivist in the Cambridge University Library, a third with the Cambridgeshire Record Office, where it has been available to the general public, and the fourth at Lambeth Palace, where it was housed in the research library there.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^"Appointments". Church Times. 6 August 2021. Retrieved 7 August 2021. The Revd Jonathan Canessa, Bishop's Officer for Homelessness, and Assistant Curate (Associate Priest) of St Paul's, Cambridge (Ely), now Lantern Initiative Lead and Hon. Assistant Curate (Associate Priest) of Newcastle Cathedral (Newcastle).
^Page, Charlotte (10 August 2021). "Four-day festival with 'top draw musicians' to take place in central Cambridge". CambridgeshireLive. Retrieved 15 August 2021. A four-day arts festival is set to welcome an "absolutely top draw lineup of musicians, writers, thinkers, visual artists, and craftspeople". St Paul's Church on Hills Road, Cambridge, will open its doors for its bi-annual festival of musical performances, comedy, workshops, talks, and a one-of-a-kind art exhibition.
