Soham Abbey

Soham Abbey was constructed by St Felix of Burgundy during the early part of the 7th Century and was the first Roman Christian site to be established in Cambridgeshire. It is believed that the church was of a squat, low design with a long north transept and 4/5 bays long with a round tower standing nearby. This evidence is taken from a woodcut made later on that shows the abbey surround by monastic buildings and with a wall and moat around the complex. This can be traced today in a circle staring at the new vicarage and going down station road before coming up along Gardiners lane and then up Clay street. The route is then completed by going along Brook Dam lane and then following Paddock street around back to the new vicarage. It was destroyed by a Viking raid in 869 and never rebuilt. The modern church (dedicated to St Andrew not to Felix) is believed to have been built on the same site as the abbey but there is no fabric left from that time. The earliest part of the current church is the crossing (can't be seen from the outside) which is from the twelvelth century and has a border of heaverly indented zigzags. The rest of the building dates from the 14^th century while the tower is from the 16^th century and replaced a fallen crossing tower.