Wendens Ambo, Essex Genealogy

England   Essex

Parish History
Wendens Ambo St Mary is an Ecclesiastical Parish in the county of Essex, created in 1662 from Great Wenden Ancient Parish and Little Wenden Ancient Parish. The unusual name originates from the joining of two villages, Great and Little Wenden, to form Wendens Ambo, meaning "both Wendens". The diocese of Chelmsford was created in 1914, prior to this Essex parishes were in the jurisdiction of the Bishops of London until 1845 when they transferred to the diocese of Rochester. The diocese of Chelmsford has 474 parishes and 600 churches and is the second largest region in the church of England outside London.

Wendens Ambo Church, formerly of Great Wenden, is dedicated to St. Mary the Virgin and is one of the most interesting churches in north-west Essex. It consists of a chancel with organ chamber, an aisled nave, a south porch and a western tower. The vestry in the western end of the south aisle, is unusually positioned.

The first church on the site was probably constructed of wood, perhaps as early as the eighth century, but no trace of it remains. It seems to have been rebuilt in stone about the time Domesday Book was written (1086 A.D.) with later additions in the 13th, 14th, 15th and 19th centuries.

The church register of Great Wenden commenced in 1540. After Volume II, which was the register of Little Wenden until 1662, the two parishes were united as Wendens Ambo.

In the 19th century Lord Braybrooke gifted land and a hall neighbouring the church to enable an extension to the ancient churchyard. The hall was extensively modernised in 2007 and under lease to the Village Hall, is managed for use by a variety of active village interest groups and activities.

WENDENS-AMBO (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Saffron-Walden, hundred of Uttlesford, N. division of Essex, 2 miles (S. W. by W.) from SaffronWalden; containing 347 inhabitants, and comprising by computation 1450 acres. It appears to have derived its affix from the consolidation of two parishes consequent on the destruction of the parochial church of Little Wenden. The river Cam has its source in the parish; and here is a station of the railway from London to Cambridge, about two miles distant from the Newport station. The living is a discharged vicarage, with the rectory of Little Wenden united, valued jointly in the king's books at £17; net income, £165; patron, the Marquess of Bristol. The tithes were commuted for land and a corn-rent in 1814. The church is an ancient structure in the early English style, with a low square tower; the chancel is separated from the nave by a richly-carved screen of oak.

From: 'Wenden-Lofts - Wentworth', A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 509-513. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51388&amp;amp;strquery=wendens ambo Date accessed: 15 February 2011.

Wendens Ambo is approximately 2 miles south-west of the market town of Saffron Walden, 15 miles south of Cambridge and 40 miles north of London. For administraive purposes it is part of the Uttlesford District of Essec County Council.

Civil Registration
Birth, marriages and deaths were kept by the government, from July 1837 to the present day. The civil registration article tells more about these records. There are several Internet sites with name lists or indexes. A popular site is FreeBMD.

Church records
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Census records
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Probate records
Records of wills, administrations, inventories, indexes, etc. were filed by the court with jurisdiction over this parish. Go to Essex Probate Records to find the name of the court having primary jurisdiction. Scroll down in the article to the section Court Jurisdictions by Parish.

Maps and Gazetteers
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 * England Jurisdictions 1851
 * Vision of Britain

Web sites
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