West Tower, Church of St Mary the Virgin, Church Street, Wendens Ambo, Essex. CB11 4JZ - Bell Towers on Waymarking.com

The Grade I listed Church of St Mary the Virgin dates from the latter part of the C11th and comprises a west tower, nave with north and south aisles and a chancel. It is of flint rubble, the tower is C11th, having three bell openings with colonettes. The semi-circular arch of the west door is entirely of Roman tiles with a single storey tympanum. The tower has a later embattled parapet and is surmounted by a slender spire, a Hertfordshire Spike. The nave also is Norman but there was considerable restoration in the late C19th when the north aisle and south porch were rebuilt. The south aisle is C13th and the clerestorey to the nave is C15th. Amongst roof timbers are C15th king posts along with the modern timbering of the roof. The chancel is C13th and has two cusped lancet windows. The most impressive internal features, to my mind, are the remains of a C14th cycle of wall paintings depicting episodes in the life of St Margaret, the martyr of Antioch.

The six bells in the tower are of fairly light weight, the tenor weighing in at 8cwt, 406.4kg, and sounding G#. It, and the fifth weighing 6cwt, 304.8kg, were cast in c.1700 by the founder Richard Keene. The four lightest bells were cast by Alfred Bowell in 1904 and are the treble, sounding E# and weighing 184.2kg, the second in D#, 203.2kg, the third in C#, 241.3kg, and the fourth in B#, 292.1kg.

The bells are rung from the ground floor for divine service, weddings, and other church events.

Richard Keene was a third generation bell founder, his grandfather, Humphrey, assisted James, his father. James had a foundry in Bedford from 1612 and had set another one up in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, by 1626. It was here that Humphrey assisted in the foundry but also cast bells in Gloucester. It appears that Humphrey died around 1652 and then in 1654 when James died the foundry passed to his son, Richard. He continued at Woodstock until the 1680s when he apparently closed Woodstock but continued at his foundry in Royston, Hertfordshire until 1703. It is likely that the two largest bells here were cast there.

Alfred Bowell cast bells in Ipswich from 1896 to 1939.

Address of Tower: Church of St Mary the Virgin Church Street Wendens Ambo, Essex UK CB11 4JZ Still Operational: yes Number of bells in tower?: 6 Rate tower: Relevant website?: Not listed Tours or visits allowed in tower?: Not listed

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