St Andrew's Church, Much Hadham (formerly
Great Hadham), is outside the north-east corner of Church Lane,
midway between the High Street and Winding Hill. It was built
largely between 1225 and 1450, but the fifteenth century work
mostly replaced that of the thirteenth. The structure is of flint
and stone dressings with a slate roof. Ironically, the relatively
recent refurbishment of the bells required some of the old, and
dilapidated, sound insulation to be removed.
The Church of St Mary, Ware, is on the
corner of Church Street and High Street. It is a spacious cruciform
building with a battlement bell tower which is surmounted by a spire.
There is evidence that a church may have existed here prior to Domesday
Book which mentions a 'priest' living in the town. The church is
also mentioned in a charter given by William I to Hugh de Grentmaisnil,
granting permission to found a cell of the Benedictine Abbey of St
Evroul of Normandy.
The west tower of four stages was built around
1330. During the fifteenth century the church was enlarged and
beautified by Margaret Beaufort, countess of Richmond and mother of
Henry VII. Overall it is regarded as a fine example of fourteenth
and fifteenth century Perpendicular architecture and contains many
items of historic interest. It was restored in 1847-49 by George
Godwin, who renewed the stonework of many of the windows, and
restored again in 1886.
Two photos on this page by P L Kessler, and one
kindly contributed by Adam Swaine via the 'History Files: Churches
of the British Isles' Flickr group.
