Relhan Collection : 115 Chesterton. Medieval stone coffin

Relhan, Richard, 1782-1844

Relhan Collection

<p style='text-align: justify;'><p>1820</p><p>Edward Ventris</p><p>Relhan captions this ‘Representation of the stone coffin discovered on Friday afternoon the 24th of March 1820 in the Galt Pit belonging to Chesterton Brick Kilns. 6 feet 6 inches outward length, width at the shoulders 3 feet, width at the feet 1 foot. Depth at the Head Outd side 1 foot 3 inches. Sides 3 inches&½ thick.’ ‘<i>All the brick and tile kilns and ground belonging, and situate in, the parish of Chesterton, near Cambridge, late Tassell’s</i>’ were sold in May 1792, and the resulting brick pits stretched along Chesterton Road to include Alexandra Gardens in Carlyle Road. The area was worked from St Giles’ end and later backfilled until it reached the Alexandra Gardens area, which was left derelict until 1906, when the Gardens were created. The Enclosure map of 1830 shows that land from Magrath Avenue to Carlyle Road was left open after excavation. The drawing was made by Edward Ventris (see <b>72</b>) in 1820 and shows a medieval coffin discovered in a quarry close to Cambridge Castle (in the background, cf <b>73, 77</b>), where land was rising from the Cam. Ventris was young (about 17) at this time, perhaps been befriended by Relhan and was developing antiquarian interests that were to continue alongside his career in the church. His naive drawing style at this time was based on Relhan’s example, most notably in the human figures, and his sense of scale was similarly dire, making it difficult to place the background, but it could be at the lower end of Hertford Street, which we know was hollowed out for clay for bricks, leaving a significant slope on the lower half of the road. Suburban growth now (2020) obscures any view of the Castle from this site.</p><p>Cambridge Chronicle 1792</p></p>