St. Christopher’s in the background with St. Andrews on the right foreground - drawing by A Kinsey

The Parish of Willingale, as it is now known, has always attracted the interest of visitors in that it has two churches in one churchyard. This unusual, but not unique feature has also been a subject of much conjecture among the locals whose speculations have earned them many a free pint of beer from visitors over the years.

The favourite story was that two sisters set out to build a church for the parish but got into so much argument over the details that they eventually went their separate ways and each built her own church. Unfortunately this romantic tale is spoilt by the fact that the two churches were built some two hundred years apart.

Originally there were two parishes. Willingale Spain whose church, is dedicated to St. Andrew, was built early in the 12th century by Hervey de Ispania from Epaignes who also built Spains Hall and gave his name to the parish. In the 14th century Hugh de Ou or D'eu came to live in the area and built a second much larger church, dedicated to St Christopher, for the second parish that became known as Willingale Doe.
The two parishes remained separate, each with its own church and Rector, until 1929. A third parish, Shellow Bowells, which also had its own church and Rector, had been incorporated into Willingale Doe somewhat earlier.

The precise reason the two churches were built on the same piece of consecrated ground is lost in the mists of time. The explanation almost certainly lies in the boundaries of the two parishes which were not only much intertwined, but Willingale Doe was all but split in half by Shellow Bowells which sliced into it like a wedge.

In fact, the two churches stand on the most central and convenient site for both parishes. The churchyard is bisected by the parish boundaries that run between the two churches so each stands in its own parish.

In the 1940s some of the older residents still referred to the village as Winnigul, at least that was how it sounded in their broad Essex brogue. However, one of the many early spellings of the name was Winigl and that may have led to a pronunciation that was handed down by word of mouth over the years.

The location of the farms and buildings in the original two parishes are as follows:

Willingale Doe: Diggins Farm (The Poplars), Gubbiss Farm, Duke's Farm, Torrell's Hall,Windmill Farm, Rowe's Farm, Warden's Hall, Hill Farm, Clapgates, Rockhills Farm, Bird's Green, the Bell Inn, Quires Green and Wall's Green.

Willingale Spain: Spain's Hall, Hodgkin's Farm, Bassett's Farm, Butler's Farm, Peartree Cottage, Hulkes Farm, Pigstye Green and Minson’s Wood.