The church dates from the 12th century,[3] and around 1160 priests were recorded.[4] In the early 13th century the tower was added to the small aisled church which had been built in the 12th.[3] The church was associated with Barnwell Priory until the dissolution of the monasteries.[4]
The condition of the church deteriorated in the 17th and 18th centuries and attendances fell.[4] The tower and spire were replaced after collapse in 1821.[3] Restoration and rebuilding of the chancel was undertaken in 1848,[4] and it underwent a Victorian restoration by W.M. Fawcett in 1871,[5] and John Ladds in 1878.[4]
In 2018 an event, entitled Waterbeach Thread[ed], was held in the church using a variety of clothing and textiles to "draw attention to the impact of clothing on the environment, human trafficking, church life, poverty, and consumerism".[6]
The limestone building has lead and tiled roofs. It has a chancel and three-bayaisle. The tower has a parapet and is supported by buttresses.[3] In the tower are five bells. The tenor bell is tuned to G# and weighs 7cwt.[8]
This church contains an electric pipe organ.[9] The Caen stonepulpit is inlaid with mosaics.[10]
In the churchyard is a stone cross which acts as a memorial to those from Waterbreach who perished in World War I and World War II.[11] It also contains 25 war graves related to the nearby RAF Waterbeach.[12]
References
^Cheason, Denis (1986). A short guide to the parish church of St John the evangelist, Waterbeach, in the county of Cambridgeshire. Waterbeach: The Church.
^Wright, A. P. M.; Lewis, C. P. (1989). A history of the county of Cambridge and the Isle of Ely, Vol 9: Chesterton, Northstowe, and Papworth hundreds. Published for University of London Institute of Historical Research by Oxford University Press.