St Mary’s, Woodham Ferrers

“I recently had the privilege to welcome back to the church a special Coat of Arms which has been restored and conserved for future generations thanks to a generous grant from the Essex Heritage Trust. Dated 1788 this George III treasure has been treated for woodworm and expertly cleaned revealing its original beauty.  It has been returned to its original place in the church with the benefit of new spot lights to help us appreciate its beauty.  This final piece of a very large jigsaw puzzle marks the official end of a special chapter in St. Mary’s long and rich history.

Changing patterns of Christian worship are leaving ageing congregations struggling to maintain our beautiful churches.  Annual payments to the Church of England, substantial running costs and shrinking congregations mean inevitably more churches will close.  Following in excess of a thousand years of continuous use the Friends of St. Mary’s Woodham Ferrers were determined to preserve the building for future generations by developing a Heritage Centre as well as sustaining a place of worship. 

Over the past decade we have sought and raised the funds and the help of many amazing volunteers to achieve this.  In December 2021 after the delays and challenges of Covid the Heritage Lottery Fund awarded us £189,200 towards our project “Restoring the building and Engaging the Community”.  

A back log of work meant the builders were late starting the building restoration.  The contingency was swallowed up by the huge hike in costs and a major and unexpected structural repair to the Belltower left the team seeking a lot of top up funding.  With grants from the Benefact Trust, Ian M Foulerton Charitable Trust, Francis Coales Charitable Foundation, Essex Heritage Trust, the Listed Places of Worship grant scheme and a generous bequest from Janet Frankland the team were finally able to deliver the project in full.   

In April 2023 the team appointed our wonderful Heritage Activity Consultant Nia McIntosh who brought a great deal of experience, energy and enthusiasm to the “Engaging the Community” part of the project.  A new Heritage Hub website www.stmarysheritagehub.co.uk was created enabling us to inform and educate the community every step of the way and I encourage you to visit the site for all the amazing details.  

Two years on and we have established St. Mary’s Heritage Hub as a focus in the local community.  We are blessed with a lot of very talented people and organisations around Woodham Ferrers who share a passion for preserving and retelling our local history. We are committed to working with them to make sure future generations will have the same opportunities we currently enjoy for understanding and celebrating our heritage.”