Until the middle of the nineteenth century, the parishioners of the hamlet of Duddenhoe End were expected to walk to the church of St. Nicholas in Elmdon, quite a walk in bad weather. Then in 1859, Robert Wilkes, the squire parson converted the tithe barn into a church or chapel of ease.

The church fell into a bad state of repair, but the villagers rallied round and restored it. Since the orientation of the barn is north south, the entry is in one wagon porch with the sanctuary in the opposite porch. The congregation sits on beautiful lime finished oak pews set in the main body of the barn.

The Hamlet Church, Essex