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Holy Trinity, North Fambridge

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I was cycling down from Stow Maries church to the Crouch estuary, and it hadn't occured to me that the road my tiny lane would shoot me out onto was the main road between Burnham-on-Crouch and the rest of the world. I was only on it for a mile or so, but it was a relief to get off into North Fambridge. Open. A tiny church, all in brick, built in one go in the 1760s, and thus with large Georgian windows and a clean classical feel inside. Otherwise, entirely in the traditional rural Essex style. The simplicity is a perfect setting for an absolute riot of a window by Marion Grant (1964) depicting a purposeful Lamb of God with a flag - fabulous stuff, full of excitement and confidence. The church is set among comfortable houses but actually in the grounds of the Hall. North Fambridge itself is a surprisingly large village with its own railway station. It ends in the mudflats of the Crouch, an enchanting spot and what Betjeman might have been thinking of when he wrote Far Essex, – fifty miles away The level wastes of sucking mud Where distant barges high with hay Come sailing in upon the flood. The name is a puzzle. South Fambridge is on the far side of the river, which is a quarter of a mile wide at this point, so there can never have been a bridge. I stood for a while just listening to the sad crying of the waders, and then headed back on to firm land. Simon Knott, April 2013 Follow these journeys as they happen at Last Of England Twitter.

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Norfolk churches - Suffolk churches
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