St Mary, Mundon
photo courtesy of www.essexchurches.com
The church of St Mary, Mundon is a historic monument in the care of the Friends of Friendless Churches since 1974 when the parish was transferred to Maldon. The church however is still used for worship on an annual basis however this tradition has been on hold due to safety concerns. The church is currently fenced off and undergoing entensive restorative building works in order to stabilise ground movement of the marshland and clay soils on which it is built.
The church is built within the moat of Mundon Hall, a sign of early, possibly Norman foundation. Although the earliest feature in the stone nave is the 14th century north-west window, the font (now removed) has been dated to c. 1200. In early Tudor times (the 1500s) the timber West belfry was erected, together with a chapel to the south and the tine north porch, but after that the church was not well looked after.
By 1684. the church had fallen into disrepair. It was not rebuilt until the early 18th century, using brick on the original foundations. It is probable that the box pews and painted texts on the walls are of this period. The church was to serve the people of Mundon, although the heart of the village gradually drifted away from the marshland to be centered around the area of the village inn, post office and later the village pump.
It had been my intention to place a small cache suitable for coins and small swap here, however with the building work in progress the cache is currently a micro.
The cache is not located at the coordinates given, these are for a small parking area. To find the cache you need to have found the following caches
The cache can be found at N51 41.(F+H)(K)(J+F) E000 43.(C-J)(J-H)(K-H)
If anybody would like to expand on this series please do so. Could you please let sadexploration know first so he can keep track of the Church numbers and names to avoid duplication.