History 

There has probably been a church on this site since the seventh century (Saxon and then Norman), but St Michael's Church as seen today was largely built in the early fifteenth century in the style called Perpendicular. It was altered and restored in both the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries. The upper part of the tower and the spire date from the early 1800’s.  The oldest item in the Church is the font (the square stone bowl in which water is put for baptisms) which dates from the mid twelfth century (Norman/Romanesque).  There are many monuments and some fine stained glass.



The Church is notable for the magnificence of its siting, crowning the hill above the fording place of the River Stort. It is unusually large, 52 metres long and with a spire 56 metres high, visible for miles around. The parish has been associated with the Bishops of London since before the Norman conquest, but is now within the Diocese of St Albans.


You might be interested in these articles written by some of our local historians and church family:

'St Michael's Church: Back to its roots' by Bob Britton, Our Church Historian
'Honora Denny, Lady Denny's lost daughter' by Helen Gibson, Local Historian
Waytemore Castle and its relationship with St Michael’s Church, both under the aegis of the Bishopric of London and Waytemore Castle Mound limestone blocks by Michael F James, Trustee of Ninevah Charitable Trust and Volunteer at Bishop's Stortford Museum