About this place

Perched on a hill in a quiet and leafy church yard next to the meandering High Street, this quirky church shares the space with the neighbouring church of St Mary’s. Both buildings have occupied the same churchyard for centuries and shared mixed fortunes along the way. By 1806 much of St Cyriac’s was a crumbling, ivy-strewn ruin with no roof, but there wasn’t a princess who had been asleep for a hundred years at the top of the medieval bell tower. After checking for sleepy princesses and re-homing the bats, the ruined building was knocked down and a new structure built. The result is an elegant Georgian interior with slim columns, beautiful clear glass windows, acres of open space and great acoustics – perfect for a party. The church of St Cyriac & St Julitta is very popular locally and has a thriving community who use it for local events. During the summer the Friends group use part of the church to host a pop-up afternoon tea shop, with home-made cakes and steaming cups of tea. Yum. This won’t impact greatly on your booking as the last scone crumb will be packed away by tea-time, but please be aware that there may be people in the church when you arrive. With tea. And cake.

Swaffham Prior, Cambridgeshire – St Cyriac & St Julitta

Church