Wendens Ambo, St Mary
St Mary, Wendens Ambo: Church, manorial complex and hundredal meeting place from the north-west. Illustration: Daniel Secker
The place-name means 'both Wendens'. At the time of the Domesday Survey, there was a Great and Little Wenden (Williams and Martin 2002, 997, 1018. The latter and its church was abandoned by the seventeenth century (Anon, 2013, 15). The picturesque village of Great Wenden is dominated by the west tower of St Mary's church. The fabric incorporates much re-used Roman brick from a nearby villa, but it is most likely the brick was rendered over, since the quoins stand proud of the flint rubble fabric. The tall nave is probably contemporary with the tower.
The church is immediately adjacent to the manorial complex where a fourteenth century barn and fifteenth century hall are preserved (RCHME 1916, 330). It is likely these occupy the sites of much earlier Domesday period buildings. The area to the west of this, known as The Wick may have served as stockyard for the manorial complex whose entrance would have been flanked by the church tower.
In 1086, Great Wenden was held by one Hugh, for Robert Gernon of Stansted. The tower at Wenden might be seen as a prominent symbol of lordship akin to a castle gatehouse or keep but lacking defensive capability. There is however another dimension to the tower. Wendens Ambo was the meeting-place for Uttlesford hundred, the administrative centre for most of north-west Essex now preserved in the place-name of Uttlesford Bridge. The ford from which the hundred took its name is shown on the top right hand side of the illustration. The road north of the ford is known as Mutlow Hill, in other words Moot-hlaw, ' the meeting mound' (Anderson 1939, 35-6). The exact position of the hundred-mound is unknown, but it must have stood close to the road. The tower would have drawn attention to this important focal point. The illustration shows a crowd gathering for a hundredal meeting
References
Anderson, O. S. 1939, The English Hundred-Names: The South-Eastern Counties. Lunds Universitets Arsskrift 35 (5), Lunds: Lunds Universitet
Anon, 2013. Wendens Ambo Conservation Area Appraisal and Draft Management Proposals 2013.
RCHME 1916, Royal commission on Historical Monuments (England): Essex, Volume 1
Williams, A. and Martn, G. H. 2002, Domesday Book: A Complete Translation. London: Penguin
The place-name means 'both Wendens'. At the time of the Domesday Survey, there was a Great and Little Wenden (Williams and Martin 2002, 997, 1018. The latter and its church was abandoned by the seventeenth century (Anon, 2013, 15). The picturesque village of Great Wenden is dominated by the west tower of St Mary's church. The fabric incorporates much re-used Roman brick from a nearby villa, but it is most likely the brick was rendered over, since the quoins stand proud of the flint rubble fabric. The tall nave is probably contemporary with the tower.
The church is immediately adjacent to the manorial complex where a fourteenth century barn and fifteenth century hall are preserved (RCHME 1916, 330). It is likely these occupy the sites of much earlier Domesday period buildings. The area to the west of this, known as The Wick may have served as stockyard for the manorial complex whose entrance would have been flanked by the church tower.
In 1086, Great Wenden was held by one Hugh, for Robert Gernon of Stansted. The tower at Wenden might be seen as a prominent symbol of lordship akin to a castle gatehouse or keep but lacking defensive capability. There is however another dimension to the tower. Wendens Ambo was the meeting-place for Uttlesford hundred, the administrative centre for most of north-west Essex now preserved in the place-name of Uttlesford Bridge. The ford from which the hundred took its name is shown on the top right hand side of the illustration. The road north of the ford is known as Mutlow Hill, in other words Moot-hlaw, ' the meeting mound' (Anderson 1939, 35-6). The exact position of the hundred-mound is unknown, but it must have stood close to the road. The tower would have drawn attention to this important focal point. The illustration shows a crowd gathering for a hundredal meeting
References
Anderson, O. S. 1939, The English Hundred-Names: The South-Eastern Counties. Lunds Universitets Arsskrift 35 (5), Lunds: Lunds Universitet
Anon, 2013. Wendens Ambo Conservation Area Appraisal and Draft Management Proposals 2013.
RCHME 1916, Royal commission on Historical Monuments (England): Essex, Volume 1
Williams, A. and Martn, G. H. 2002, Domesday Book: A Complete Translation. London: Penguin