St Wendreda, March c.1900(Cambridgeshire Collection)

St Wendreda, March

History of St Wendreda

Listed Building

Parish Church, mainly mid C14, c1400, late C15 and c1528. Restored 1874. Rubblestone with Barnack limestone dressings and flint and brick to late C15 clerestorey. Roof of nave leaded with tiles to rebuilt roof of chancel. Plan of West tower, nave, North and South aisles. South porch, and chancel. Four stage West tower and spire, 1350-1400, embattled with five stage buttressing. … The angel roof of the nave is particularly fine. It is of double hammer beam construction with a tier of winged angels to the soffits of the jackposts as well as the hammer beams. The North and South aisles are of similar late C15 date with blind arcading to the North and South walls. The font is C12, recut. There are brasses to Andrew Dredeman (d.1501) and his wife in the nave floor and to Anthony Hansard (d.1507) and his wife, in the South aisle.

St Wendreda’s Church is one of the greatest medieval parish churches in East Anglia and is internationally renowned for possessing one of the most magnificent timber roofs in England. Rising above the Fenland town of March, its impressive Perpendicular tower serves as a landmark for miles around, reflecting the prosperity that the town enjoyed through agriculture, river trade and its strategic position on the edge of the Fens. Although the church incorporates earlier medieval work, much of the present building dates from the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, when it was transformed into a structure of exceptional scale and beauty.

The church’s supreme treasure is its extraordinary fifteenth-century angel roof. Stretching the length of the nave, it is adorned with 118 carved angels, each displaying individual features, expressions and gestures. Many hold musical instruments, crowns or symbols of the Passion, creating a spectacular vision of the heavenly host. The richness of the carving and the remarkable state of preservation make this one of the finest surviving medieval timber roofs in Europe and one of the outstanding achievements of English Gothic craftsmanship.

Elsewhere, the spacious interior contains elegant arcades, a fine medieval font and attractive stained glass, while the lofty clerestory floods the church with natural light, allowing the beauty of the timber roof to be fully appreciated. The church is dedicated to St Wendreda, an Anglo-Saxon princess and hermit associated with the healing of plague victims, whose cult made March an important place of pilgrimage during the Middle Ages.

Extensively restored during the nineteenth century, St Wendreda’s retains its medieval grandeur while continuing to serve as the parish church of March. Its combination of architectural scale, historical significance and unrivalled craftsmanship has secured its reputation as one of Cambridgeshire’s—and indeed England’s—most remarkable parish churches.

Reference: based on the description of March in Simon Jenkins, England’s Thousand Best Churches, with additional architectural and historical context.