England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Mundon St Mary

The Parish

The parish of Mundon lies in eastern Essex forming a stretch of the county's intricate creek-lined North Sea coast. Mundon is located roughly 4 miles south of the port and market town of Maldon and sits a mile east of the meandering B1018 road which links Maldon with Southminster. Mundon was an estate village with most properties lying away from the grounds of Mundon Hall along a lane paralleling the B1018. The parish is rather low-lying with an extensive run of marshes alongside the Blackwater Estuary to the northeast, the majority of farmland was set to arable with early gazetteers estimating as much as 60% set to that method, the remainder being pastures and marshland. Of course the marshes had the economic uses too for wild-fowling, thatching and for exploitation of the Blackwater's fish & shellfish resources, oysters being something of a local speciality. Much of the drainage is man-influenced but the main channel, Mundon Wash, drains the parish northeastwards the short distance to the Blackwater. Mundon is sited at around 10 metres above the sea, the low hills above the Crouch to the south rises to near 40 metres as the highest ground hereabouts in largely flat terrain. Mundon parish was extensive compared to many in eastern Essex, covering around 3,100 acres it would have supported a population of around 300 parishioners. In Domesday times Mundon was held by one Eudo, a steward, and had impressive assets indicative of an arable role even in those early times, 14 ploughs were backed by small pastures and woodland, a patch of which remains in this otherwise tree-less environment.

The Church

St Mary's church sits south of the site of Mundon Hall roughly a half mile east of the main center of properties and accessed by a narrow lane from the northwest which becomes only roughly surfaced as it nears the church. St Mary was deconsecrated in 1970 and from 1975 has been managed by a charity, the Friends of Friendless Churches. The early history of the church is largely masked by work from Tudor periods but Pevsner points to a single window complete with "Y"-tracery which is of the 14th century, also 14th century is the northern doorway which comes together with a rather modern door. The standout feature of the church is its remarkable belfry and timber tower, the belfry is probably of c1500 with the timber tower from the Tudor 16th century. This period also saw the construction of the timber porch, considered by some to be finest in its county, and an archway, now blocked, into a former chapel which has been demolished. The chancel was rebuilt in brick in the 18th century and restoration was conducted by the charity when the church was received in a lamentable state. There are a few places to safely park before the church is reached, sadly for the photographer the compact churchyard is beset by trees making for a much restricted set of angles.