St Mary’s has been evolving ever since Archbishop Islip decreed in the early 1300s that it was the duty of the Vicar of Wrotham to provide ‘one fit chaplain to celebrate in the chapel of Stansted’. The first church was built beside a 300-year-old yew tree overlooking the village and more than seven hundred years later that tree is still standing beside St Mary’s church porch. In the belfry hangs possibly the oldest bell in the district. Cast before the Reformation, it bears an inscription in Latin which, when translated, reads ‘His name is John’.
Below are some photos in and around the church. The roof shingles were all replaced in approximately 2003. Locals were invited to sponsor a shingle by paying £1. You could then write your name on the back of the shingle before it went up. I never got around to doing it and have always regretted it!
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| The church on 13.3.13 |
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| School children under the yew tree |
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