Wendens Ambo No. 1 / Great Wenden / Wenden Magna / Wenden Parva / Wendena

There are four entries for Wendens [Ambo and Lofts] [variant spelling] in the omesday survey [https://opendomesday.org/place/XX0000/wendens-ambo-and-lofts/] [accessed 11 December 2019] none of which mentions cleric or church in it. The entry for this church in the Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (Essex, 1916-1923) notes: "Font: octagonal, quite plain, c. 1400. Font-cover: domed, wooden, with chamfered ribs, c. 1600." Only the font cover is noted in Pevsner (1976): "C16, domed, with a ball finial." Bettley & Pevsner (2007) do mention the font: "Octagonal, c. 1400." The font itself consists of an octagonal basin of plain vertical sides, raised on a shirt octagonal stem and a square lower base; the only decoration visible are four trimmed edges on the chamfer of the lower volume. The basin is cemented to a column of the nave, and appears cracked or broken, with damage also on the upper rim, where an staple of the old cover may have been removed. The font cover is now attached to a pulley and a rope, but it appears to be a modern addition.