St. Wendreda's Church in March is one of 147 churches in the country with a unique dedication, and is famous for its double-hammer beam roof decorated with 120 carved angels.
Saint Wendreda was an Anglo-Saxon woman who lived in the 7th Century. She was brought up at Exning, near Newmarket, where King Anna of the East Angles had his palace. It is thought she may have been a relative, possibly daughter, of King Anna. King Anna's (other) daughters went off to found religious houses in Ely, East Dereham and the Isle of Sheppey, and following Anna's death in 653 or 654 Wendreda felt a similar calling and headed off to March. In Saxon times March was two separate communities, Merche which was where the church now is and Merchford by the banks of the River Nene a mile to the north where the current town centre is. March was an island surrounded by a malarial swamp and populated by pagans; visitors can judge for themselves how much has changed in the last fourteen centuries!
Wendreda spent the rest of her life ministering to the people of March and the surrounding area, probably building the first church on the site. Records indicate that she was recognised in many areas of East Anglia as a "lady from God" by people from all levels of society. After her death she was interred in March and some time later was canonized.
In those days the term "rest in peace" often did not apply to the remains of saints, and such was the fate of Saint Wendreda. In the late 10th century, the Abbot of Ely decided that his monastery could do with an exciting new attraction and obtained permission from King Ethelred (the Unready) to acquire the relics. So poor old Wendreda was dug up and carted off to Ely where the relics were "placed fittingly in a shrine adorned with gold and jewels".
Wendreda didn't stay at Ely for long. In 1016 Ethelred's son and successor as king, Edmund Ironside, was preparing to repel the Danish invasion led by Canute and decided he needed a lucky mascot. Saint Wendreda fitted the bill and so, accompanied by the monks of Ely, her relics were wheeled off to Assunden (probably Ashingdon in Essex) to face the Danish army in the hope that Divine intervention would give victory to the Saxons. Alas, it didn't and the Danes routed the Saxons, killing the monks and much of the English nobility in the process. It is said that after the battle Canute, with an eye for bling, observed Wendreda's jewel-encrusted coffin and enquired about its contents. On being told of her virtuous life he renounced his pagan ways and declared he would become a Christian (along with all his army, of course). So a result there for Saint Wendreda, but probably not the one Edmund had in mind. Canute took the relics to Canterbury where they resided for over three hundred years.
Meanwhile, in March, the community slowly grew. It is likely that a Norman stone church replaced the Saxon building, although only the early Norman font survives from that period. The oldest part of the existing church, the arcade on the north side of the nave, dates from the 13th century.
From 1340 moves were initiated to have Saint Wendreda's relics returned to March, and in 1343 bishops representing Pope Clement VI signed the Indulgence that authorised the return and set St. Wendreda's Church up as a place of pilgrimage. The church was extensively rebuilt during the second half of the 14th century to reflect its new status. A south aisle was added and the tower was built between 1350 and 1380. The tower is unusual in that there is a vaulted passageway through the base. Further rebuilding and embellishment took place in the 15th century.
For 200 years St. Wendreda's Church welcomed pilgrims en route to the important shrine at Walsingham in Norfolk. This early tourism was undoubtedly good for the local economy; the period saw the establishment of the first discount store Thynge-Me-Bobbes, Ye Flea & Bubo Inne and several charity shops. The wealth generated helped pay for the rebuilding of the church and by the early 16th century the coffers were full enough to finance the installation of a posh new roof
The angel roof was built between 1523 and 1526, and is the culmination of this form of roof decoration which was especially popular in East Anglia. The roof is carved from English oak and incorporates 120 angel figures together with 20 figures of apostles, saints, martyrs and benefactors. Completing the embellishment are 2700 fleurs de lys.
Soon after the construction of the roof the Reformation put a stop to the church as a place of pilgrimage. The shrine was dismantled and Saint Wendreda's relics disappeared in about 1545. It is not known what happened to them; possibly they were quietly buried nearby.
Over the next three hundred years the chancel was somewhat carelessly allowed to fall into unrecoverable disrepair not once but twice, necessitating its replacement in both the 17th and 19th centuries. Recently the angel roof was given a major structural overhaul and large amounts of crumbling stonework have been replaced on roof of the north aisle.
If you have the time, do go inside and take a look at the roof. The door is usually locked but the key can be obtained from the nearby the petrol station.
My thanks to local historian Trevor Bevis for the research on which the above is based.
In order to obtain the coordinates for the cache you will need to take a brief walk around the outside
of the church, collecting numbers allocated to letters A to I as you go.
As you stand outside the gate, facing the north door of the church, to your right across the road is the entrance to the churchyard. Just through the entrance gate and to your left you will find a red-coloured headstone marking the grave of William Vawser Pope. The year of his death was 18DC.
Back at the main church gate, on the right hand side there is a red shield decorated with A crowns
Go through the gate and along the path underneath the tower. In the passageway there are B windows in the church wall.
At the far end of the passageway you will come to the south porch, attached to which is a black square
rainwater downpipe. Cast into the metal is a simple sum. To get E divide the answer to the sum by three.
Near the path between the south porch and the road, there is a coffin-shaped grave. The occupant, John Pope, died aged 7H years.
Continue round to the east end of the church. The window here has F tall sub-windows.
Continue round the church, back to the north door. To the left of the door is a plaque commemorating the improvement of the churchyard. Take the first date from the second date and subtract one to obtain G.
Go back through the gate and to your right is the church hall. Add together the digits of the year when the hall was rebuilt to obtain I.
The cache is located at N52° AB.CDE' E000° 0F.GHI'
The cache micro-sized, and you will need a pen and possibly tweezers. Terrain-wise some of the walk around the church is on grass so might be a bit tricky when wet for wheelchairs or buggies with small wheels (and you will need to retrace your tracks as the final bit of the circuit is a steep slope). There are steps at the main gate but there is a stepless entrance along the road past the tower. Access to the cache site should be ok except for the last couple of metres or so.
If anybody would like to expand to this series please do, I would just ask that you could let Sadexploration know first so he can keep track of the Church numbers and names to avoid duplication
To view the church micro stats page, please click here