“Serving All” – The Wenden Church Project
St Mary’s, Wendens Ambo, is a Grade I listed church at the heart of our village. For over 900 years it has been a place of worship, music, and community life. Yet it lacks the most basic facilities—no toilet, no servery, and poor accessibility.
The Serving All project will provide an accessible toilet, a compact servery, and improved paths and lighting, making the church a fully usable space for everyone. With heritage-sensitive design and environmental care, this project will secure the church’s future as a hub for village life.
At the heart of Wendens Ambo stands St Mary the Virgin Church, a Grade I listed medieval landmark that has been a place of worship, gathering and memory for over 900 years. Today, this much-loved building lacks the most basic amenities. There is no toilet, no servery, and limited accessibility, making it difficult to host concerts, coffee mornings, children’s activities, or community events without hardship.
The Serving All project will change that. Following years of consultation, surveys and heritage planning, the Parochial Church Council has secured approvals to install an accessible toilet, a compact servery, and to improve pathways and lighting in line with Historic England’s best practice.
The facilities will be located discreetly at the west end of the north aisle—a Victorian addition chosen for its minimal impact on the historic fabric. Works will include limecrete flooring, limestone tiles, and reversible timber partitions, ensuring sustainability and respect for the building’s ancient structure. Drainage will be managed by an environmentally approved interim system, with mains connection planned by Anglian Water before 2030.
This £225,000 project is not just about bricks and mortar. It is about unlocking the church’s potential as a true community hub: a venue for music, social events, children’s activities, village meetings, heritage education, and pastoral care. With modern facilities, St Mary’s can welcome everyone—young and old, whether able-bodied or not—in dignity and comfort.
How you can help
We have already raised significant funds through grants and local support, but we urgently need further donations to make this vision a reality. Every contribution brings us closer to transforming St Mary’s into a fully accessible, sustainable, and welcoming space for village life in the 21st century.
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Serving All: Transforming St Mary’s Church
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Why This Project Matters
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Sensitive Design for a Grade I Listed Building
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Meeting Environmental and Heritage Standards
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A Community Hub for the 21st Century
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How You Can Help
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Donate Online
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Spread the Word
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Wendens Ambo
A Village and its Church
This website has been set up with two aims – to illustrate the increasingly well-documented history of this small village in north-west Essex, and to support a long-term project to enhance and develop its historic church dedicated to St Mary the Virgin. We have recently received grants from the Heritage Lottery Fund and other sponsors to restore this charming and historic church and to secure its existence for future generations. The initial phase, now completed, has been to undertake major repair and restoration work to the roof of the tower and its spire.
As part of the bid to the HLF, the village organised a heritage project to raise awareness of the history of the village. This took the form of a “Community Dig” under the guidance of professional archaeologists from Cambridge University. In mid-August 2018, families from the village dug test pits in their gardens and on public land to discover what history might be lying beneath their feet.
The Benefact Group holds a monthly draw to support charities with a donation of £1000. Click on the button below to nominate the Wendens Ambo PCC which is responsible for the upkeep of the church, its mission and its building.
Visiting our Church
The church is open at weekends for visitors from 10am to 3pm while contractors are working in the church. A short history of the church is available for a modest sum, and a simple guide highlighting the stages of development of the church is available to consult while you are there. If you are planning to visit for a specific purpose – to see a family grave, or for genealogical or historical research, you may wish to contact the church beforehand.
We are committed to safeguarding children and young people and vulnerable adults. The PCC has adopted the Church of England’s policies and best practice on safeguarding. For more information and for details of our Parish Safeguarding Representative, please see the Safeguarding page of our website.
Our newsletter, the Grapevine, is published each weekend.
We have one shared Grapevine with the Saffron Walden team ministry and that can be found here:
Latest News
National Churches Trust Church of the Week, 22 Jan
https://www.nationalchurchestrust.org/church/st-mary-virgin-wendens-ambo Wendens Ambo, St Mary the Virgin, Essex Our Church of the Week, St Mary the Virgin in Wendens Ambo, Essex, hopes to welcome more people with the help of a grant for new...
Serving All – St Mary’s Wendens Ambo Church Project
Serving All: The Wenden Church Project At the heart of Wendens Ambo stands St Mary the Virgin Church, a Grade I listed medieval landmark that has been a place of worship, gathering and memory for over 900 years. Today, this much-loved building lacks the most basic...
St Mary’s Church, Wendens Ambo Receives £19,000 Grant from Benefact Trust
St Mary’s Church, Wendens Ambo Receives £19,000 Grant from Benefact Trust Wendens Ambo Parochial Church Council has been awarded a generous grant of £19,000 from the Benefact Trust in support of its ‘Serving All’ project at St Mary the Virgin Church. This significant...
Remembering Revd Tim Hardingham 1949-2020: A stained glass window and a more accessible church
A stained glass window in Tim's memory has completed the Church of England approval process. We now need to raise the money to place the order. If you would like to contribute money towards this project, please send your contribution via BACS with the reference:...
Funding the ‘Serving All’ project update
Find out more about Wenden Church. The displays from the Gift Day, 22 March, and the 'Serving All' project will remain in the church. Financial News: Just over £10,000 was raised over the Gift Day weekend. These funds will be helpful in applying for grants to cover...
A BIG Thank you to local companies that have donated to our ‘Serving All’ project
Our local sponsors: IMT Aviation £5000 Yellow Technology £500 Wendens Ambo Parish Council £500 We have also received financial support from the Audley End Estate and an anonymous donor who offered match funding (up to 5K) for our Gift Day. If you or your...
Recent Work
Over the last few years a lot of repair as well as routine maintenance work has taken place at Wenden church.
In 2017 the church opened the Memorial Garden with a place for cremated remains and a new centennial war memorial.
In 2018 the church tower was shrouded in scaffolding to enable work to the roof of the tower to be carried out. The overall cost of the tower work and the associated heritage project was close to £90,000. The east gate was also replaced.
In 2019 one clear window in the north aisle and the main double gate to the church yard were repaired. It was also the year that the church received funding from the Oktoberfest committee to install LED floodlighting.
In 2020 a modern roof alarm system was installed as a requirement of the church insurers, because lead theft from churches is a national problem.
In 2021 the church installed under pew heating to pews in the main church. This was followed by under pew heating in the choir stalls.
In 2022 the church undertook repairs that had been postponed during the closure of churches during Covid. These included repairs to roof tiles and guttering on the north and south sides of the church. The join between the north aisle and the main church was cleared and new lead flashing installed.
Our current project is to make the church more accessible. This means creating a community space with an accessible toilet and servery that can be used by the community for a wide range of activities throughout the week. It also means making the paths to the church porch easier for everyone to use.
