Oh to be in England

The village of Wendens Ambo in Essex is one of many villages (and towns) in that part of England that have retained much of their character from former ages. It seems that to begin with there were two parishes of Wendens, Upper and Lower. Then they were united into one village, called Wendens Ambo (meaning Both Wendens)! This charming view is looking down the village street from the church with its tower - according to the guide books Norman. But looking at the tower and at the unusual height of the interior of the little church I can't help wondering if perhaps it is older than that - or perhaps in some places the older ways took longer to be superseded. The countryside of NW Essex is beautiful, with gently rolling hills and extremely bendy roads - no doubt made by the rolling English drunkard.

Just a few miles past Wendens Ambo lies the ancient town of Saffron Walden. No doubt in days gone by it would have been surrounded by the fields of saffrom which gave it its wealth - saffron being used as a dye, for food and for medicine. The saffrom wealth enabled the merchants of this town to build the largest parish church in the whole of Essex, and to this day there are may streets of houses dating from the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries - as well as the former Corn Exchange (now the Library) described by Nikolaus Pevsner as being a 'tasteless but jolly Italianate style.' I haven't got a picture of that at present, but we do have something of the great church of Our Lady.

Among the many monuments in the church is one ancient brass commemorating a priest of the church from the 15th century. Many pious images on monuments of all kinds were destroyed by the iconoclastic zeal of Protestant 'Reformers' nut one unusual survivor here is that above the figure of the priest is a depiction in brass of the 'loving pelican' which according to medieval belief fed its young on its own blood. The pelican, thus becoming an image of Jess is shown here driving its beak into its breast while its young await their nourishment below in the nest. The Latin inscription reads: 'So much has Christ loved us.'