Cottenham

Approaching All Saints Church on 
High Street, Cottenham

Wednesday’s journey was by bus to a village on the outskirts of Cambridge. My destination was just a bit beyond walking distance for a day trip and the city bus system will take you there – just barely – it’s where the line ends. Cottenham is one of the larger villages surrounding the city of Cambridge, located around five miles north of the city. My pilgrim destination there was All Saints Church, the largest landmark in the village of neatly arrayed English cottage homes interspersed with some larger houses of some pedigree. “Why?” you might ask, “did I go to Cottenham?” What is significant there?

That’s a simple point. All Saint’s Church is where my dear friend Robyn Szoke was wed to Philip Coolidge several years ago. The people of St. Luke’s are getting to know Robyn Szoke-Coolidge very well these days, since she is one of the priests that is taking services and providing advice to the wardens and vestry while I am on sabbatical. That fact alone made All Saints a “must see” during my time in Cambridge.

The journey gave me a glimpse into the simpler side of life around this sophisticated university town with all its cosmopolitan hustle and bustle – even more so than little Grantchester to the south. Because it is just a little further out and opposite the direction of London, its surroundings are a bit more rural (although urban encroachment is evident). Life in Cottenham is very different. I arrived just before noon and trekked my way to the church – about a mile from the bus stop. Nary a pub or coffee shop to be seen. What was there would not open until closer to supper time. This was a “stop by the house” for coffee town. There weren’t a lot of visitors like me walking the streets.

The "lounge" area in All Saints Church

Once at the church, the peaceful churchyard beckoned a time of quiet reflection in the noonday sun. The church was open (another sign beckoned a visit) and in what I have already observed is the style in these parts, the substantial parish church (larger than the one on Grantchester) used just about every square foot for some activity space from children’s play to a lounging area! There was of course the area for worship. No pews here – moveable chairs that provided, I am sure, for flexible use of space in the nave and a décor that reflected the many historical periods through which this worship space has endured.

Looking down the nave at All Saints Church

All Saints was probably founded sometime in the tenth century (late 900s) and fragments of the present structure date from the thirteenth. A storm destroyed all but the base of the original church steeple, but that was rebuilt between 1617 and 1619 – a relatively new part of the church! Elements of the interior décor date as late as the twentieth century giving clear evidence of a living parish community, not merely a relic of history.

Another interesting fact about this little village is that it is the home of John Coolidge, who was born in Cottenham, baptized at All Saints' Church in September 1604, and emigrated to the American colony of New England. Among his many notable American descendants is one J. Calvin Coolidge, former President of the United States. Of course, another relative, though I am not familiar with the exact degree of heritage, is Phil Coolidge, spouse to The Very Rev. Robyn Szoke-Coolidge mentioned above. So … now we have come full circle!

Pilgrimage is not always about the famous and the notable. It is often about roots and rootedness. In a similar way, I have the hope of ferreting out the place where a certain “Samuel Blanchard – Soldier in King Phillip’s War – June 24, 1676” might have originated before emigrating to the colonies. Indications are that this would have been near Goodworth Clatford, England. The degree of putative relation? 8th-great grandfather! Hardly a close relative – and the only clue to relation at all is work on ancestry.com and their DNA database. But that is a story for another time.