In the 10th century Ailwin, Earl of East Anglia, gave Hemingford Abbots and part of Hemingford Grey to Ramsey Abbey. King Edgar granted a charter for the first church to be built, on the site of the present chancel, in 974. Two hundred years later this wooden church was replaced with a stone building, around 1190. Two columns and part of the former tower from this survive at the east end of the nave. It is probable that in the 12th century the church had a central tower, of which small parts of the walls may still remain.
A complete reconstruction of the church took place at the end of the 13th century, the aisles being first rebuilt, then the arcades, including arches in the north and south walls of the central tower (which was apparently then pulled down and its west wall removed) and a low clerestory. Late in the 14th century the west tower and spire were built, partly within the church and absorbing part of the western bay of the nave. The tower was adorned with gargoyles though there are none on the less visible north side.
To the right of the porch two mass (sun) dials are carved onto the buttress. A gnomen would have protruded from the medieval hole to show the service times. The cogs and stone weights of a later clock survive in the tower, however a newer clock has now been installed.
The spire was partly rebuilt in 1911 and consists of three stages with moulded plinth and an embattled parapet. The angle buttresses, semi-hexagonal, semi-octagonal and diagonal at each stage are finished with gabled and crocketed (hooked) pinnacles. It still has the original spire lights in two upper stages and is topped with a weather vane. The first ten feet (3.0 m) of the spire is at a steeper angle than the rest.
Hemingford Bellringing 