England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Wendens Ambo St Mary the Virgin

The Parish

The parish of Wendens Ambo lies in northwestern Essex close to both the border with Cambridgeshire and also with Hertfordshire. Wendens Ambo is located about 2 miles southwest of the market town of Saffron Walden and sits on and just west of the former course of the A11 (Norwich to London) road nowadays renumbered as the B1383. The parish takes its unusual name from the merger of Great & Little Wenden into a combined parish in early times. Much of the village is built along the B1039 which runs down from the nearby Hertfordshire hills. A typical farming parish, the farming regime here would have been varied due its position adjacent to the grazing meadows of the River Cam flood-plain, whilst the usual arable crops could be found on higher and drier ground. Modern developments have come to the parish, the railway line from Cambridge to London was cut between village and river with Audley End station lying within the parish and the modern M11 motorway runs immediately to the west of the village. The River Cam drains the parish orthwards through Cambridge to join the Great Ouse near Ely and thence to the North Sea through The Wash. Wendens Ambo is sited at around 70 metres above the sea in an area of the county that is more rolling than the conventional view of Essex, local heights rise to 120 metres within a mile or so. Wendens Ambo parish was fairly typically sized for its area, covering around 1,500 acres it would have supported a population of just under 350 parishioners. In Domesday times Wendens Ambo was altogether a more substantial place, shared by 4 landowners it could offer 13 ploughs, extensive meadows & woodland and had 2 mills.

The Church

As the B1039 passes through Wendens Ambo it performs a right angles dog-leg set of bends to pass around the site of St Mary, the church being almost centrally placed within the village but tucked way up the incredibly picturesque Church Street. Pevsner muses that this street with its pretty thatched cottages is a great favourite of the producers of scenic calenders and it is certainly a pleasant sight to behold. St Mary's church has ancient origins, Pevsner even identifies reused Roman bricks within its structure, the western doorway showing these characteristically thin bricks. The western tower and its arch are the oldest remaining complete structures, 12th century and in the Norman Romanesque style. The southern arcade shows the lancet windows typical of the Early English Gothic style and is dateable to the 13th century, also 13th or early 14th century is the chancel in the later Decorated style, Work in the 15th century included creating a clerestory to improve internal lighting, adding a vestry and topping the tower with battlements. Like most churches the Victorians made their usual restorations, here there were two principal ones, in 1847 the northern aisle was rebuilt whilst in 1895 a general restoration took place which also rebuilt the southern porch. Church Street is a narrow lane and a dead-end so parking must be considerate, as one climbs it the western tower is nicely framed by mature trees, with a pathway rising to the wooden entrance gates. The trees around the western end do somewhat limit the angles available but not unduly so.