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Books > Wiltshire Churches Photographic Memories
Amesbury, St Mary and St Melore's Church c1955 (ref. A143023) | Amesbury dates back to at least 973; it is the nearest town to Stonehenge, and has a population of about 6,000. In
980, Amesbury Abbey was founded for Benedictine nuns. It became a priory of the Order of Fontevrault for men and
women in 1177. Royal and noble ladies favoured the priory in the 13th and 14th centuries, when about 100 nuns and
a few chaplains and clerks inhabited the priory. Strange to tell, the domestic parts of the priory were such a distance
from the main building that it is questionable whether the church is for the parish or was the priory church.
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Amesbury, St Mary and St Melor's Church c1955 (ref. A143045) | St Mary and St Melore's is basically Norman, large and built
mainly of flint; its large squat Early English tower rests on
triple chamfered arches and has three wide-spaced single
bell openings. The east window is the work of Butterfield,
who restored the church in 1853, ten years before he
began work on Aldbourne. He put in the vivid coloured tiles
on the east wall, and he is responsible for the Perpendicular
south aisle and west end. The outline of a chapel remains
in the east side walls. The jambs of an early 13th-century
doorway west of the north-west corner of the truncated
nave have been reset, but the door's purpose remains a
mystery. The south aisle is early Perpendicular, and has a
two-bay arcade with a pier of four shafts and four hollows,
decorated capitals and arches of two hollow chamfers. The
font is 12th-century and of Purbeck marble with shallow
blank arches; a wooden pulpit, by Butterfield, stands on
a chunky stone base. The stained glass is worth studying,
as are the 15th- and 16th-century carved roofs. The clock
on the tower came from Amesbury Abbey nearby - it
was given to the church in 1971. Its mechanism is 15th-
century, but it was altered to take a pendulum.
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Avebury, St James' Church 1899 (ref. 44857) | The village of Avebury, population 650, is best known for its impressive prehistoric stone circles, which were
recently claimed to be the work of marmalade millionaire Keiller, rather than prehistoric man. Avebury is
undoubtedly an ancient monument. Keiller and Pigott excavated the site in the 1930s and indicated individual
stones that were missing by inserting little concrete pillars in their place. St James's church is of medium size;
it has Anglo-Saxon windows, and a Norman chancel arch, arcades and font. Tuscan columns, inserted in 1812
by the Calne builder Button, replace the Norman originals. The chancel was built in 1879 by Withers, and the
Perpendicular west tower has a stair turret and pinnacles. It is ashlar-faced, and so is the upper part of the flint and
stone south aisle.
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Avebury, St James' Church c1955 (ref. A80009) | The cylindrical Norman font is stunning:
it has intersected arches, big scrolls
and two big serpents with twisted tails,
their heads looking at a saintly bishop,
who is wearing a typical Norman pleated
cassock and holding a crozier. The lower
parts of the excellent Perpendicular
rood screen and lofts were largely
restored in the 1900s. Parts of the stalls
are 17th-century, but few survived the
Reformation. The Manor nearby was
built on the site of a small Benedictine
foundation of the early 12th century,
dissolved in 1414. Fragments of it were
used in the construction of the house,
which was built in 1557 and enlarged in
1600. Another manor house, Trusloe,
is connected to the churchyard by a
footbridge across a stone bridge.
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Bradford-On-Avon, Holy Trinity Church 1900 (ref. 45378) | In the early 19th
century, Bradford
had thirty-two
cloth factories and
Holy Trinity was
the church of the
clothiers. There is
evidence of Norman
features, such as the
long round-headed
windows in the
chancel, the re-set
window above the
south porch, and the
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Bradford-On-Avon, Holy Trinity Church c1955 (ref. B174026) | The eastern chapel was the Horton family's
worshipping place. The stained glass in
the south window has several Netherlands
roundels of the 16th century and later.
Brasses commemorate the great clothier
Thomas Horton and his wife. There are also
memorials to Anne Long, 1601, in brass,
and to Charles Steward, 1701: a standing
figure (by Nost) is in front of a blank arch,
with mourning putti left and right. Father
and son John Thresher, 1741, have an
architectural tablet with two putti outside
holding draperies. Anthony Methuen, 1737,
is a standing monument by Rysbrack,
with a grey sarcophagus framed with Ionic
columns carrying a pediment.
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Bradford-On-Avon, St Laurence's Saxon Chapel 1900 (ref. 45382) | Perhaps the chapel was built to house the relics of St Edward the Martyr, which were moved there from
Shaftesbury. St Aldhelm built an ecclesiola at Bradford, and a monastery is recorded in a deed of 705 when he
was Abbot. Irvine believed the building to be late, rather than early, Saxon, as is suggested by the decoration. The
controversy continues on the date of the construction. The outside walls have three horizontal tiers and gables in
the nave and chancel.
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Broad Chalke, the Lych Gate c1955 (ref. B376011) | This elaborate entrance to the church at Broad
Chalke, near Salisbury, has been well-maintained
throughout the years. It serves the large and
ornate All Saints' church, which is ashlar-faced
and dates back to two periods – late 13th
century and 1360-70.
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Broad Chalke, the Congregational Church c1955 (ref. B376008) | Now a United Reformed Church in weekly use, this
flint church has lost its neighbouring large tree and
the central bell tower and short spire. Built in 1862,
it was originally a memorial church; the dedication
stone in the east wall is now indecipherable.
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Broad Chalke, All Saints' Church c1955 (ref. B376014) | All Saints' is known as the cathedral of the
Nadder Valley. Its crossing tower is possibly
of the 14th century; it is buttressed by simple
moulded half arches at the east end of the
nave. The south transept south window is later
Perpendicular, and so is the top of the tower and
the two-storey south porch, which has fleurons
below the battlements. The nave roof has
angel brackets. The font is early Perpendicular,
and has cusped quatrefoils enclosing roses,
leaves, shields and shells. The pulpit and pews
are 17th-century. A monument near the south
porch in the churchyard has a simple inscribed
slab of 1930 to Christopher Wood, the painter
who lived in nearby Reddish House, which has
since been the home of Cecil Beaton, television
celebrity Toyah Wilcox and, in the new century,
Lord and Lady Weinstock.
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Broad Hinton, the Church Interior c1955 (ref. B377006) | Ponting restored this Early English church in 1879. The
aisles were probably removed from the nave - there
is evidence that they existed in the 13th century. The
chancel arch was moved in the 19th century to connect
the chancel and the organ chamber. The ashlar-faced
west tower is Perpendicular, with a tall arch towards the
nave and a stair turret rising above the battlements. The
roof has tie-beams and hammer-beams with pendants,
and is dated 1634. Small Norman fragments can be
found at the east end of the nave. The Gothic-style
pulpit is of 1843, with parts from the 18th century.
The stained glass shown in the photograph is probably
by Clayton and Bell. The large number of monuments
include a coffin lid in the chancel with a foliated cross
under a lady's head in relief in a quatrefoil. A good
example of Early English style can be found in the tomb
of Sir William Wroughton, 1559, which has a canopy
and inscription in a fine strapwork cartouche. Sir
Thomas Wroughton, 1597, and his wife have a larger
six-poster standing monument. Colonel F Glanville,
killed in action fighting for the King at Bridgwater, 1645,
and John Glanville, 1673, are also commemorated.
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Calne, the Church of St Mary c1955 (ref. C228033) | The Georgian style
was dominant in
the architecture of
many of Calne's
buildings, from town
houses and hotels
to smaller cottages.
This photograph
illustrates the mixture
of the clusters of
development and
how the buildings
originally related to
each other.
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Calne, St Mary's Church c1955 (ref. C228014) | The town of Calne boasts a stunning and attractive
Perpendicular church, which was funded by the once-
prosperous local cloth trade. The transept north tower is
said to be Perpendicular survival rather than revival, but
the five-bay Norman arcade was largely rebuilt after the
original crossing tower collapsed in 1638, probably onto
the north and east parts of the building. The expansive
setting of the church gives it the feel of a little cathedral.
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Castle Combe, Market Cross and Church 1906 (ref. 53907) | Four heavy stone posts
standing on a tall base
decorated with quatrefoils
carry timber beams and
support the roof of the
Market Cross. The Cross
was once the hub of
the village; it has a well-
used mounting block,
but modern travel and
commerce have caught
up with the picturesque
village to a large degree.
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Castle Combe, St Andrew's Church 1906 (ref. 53911) | St Andrew's Church is pleasant enough to look at, but fussy in its numerous
outlines. It is mostly Perpendicular, but has a 13th-century chancel wall and a
Decorated north chapel. Most of the church was demolished and rebuilt, faithfully,
in 1850. The west tower, which was begun in 1434, has diagonal buttresses,
decorated with buttress shafts and relief pinnacles, panelled battlements and a
spire for a stair turret. On the chancel arch there are portal statuettes standing
under canopies and leaning up the arch. Flying buttresses separate the chapels
from the aisles.
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Castle Combe, the Manor House and Church 1907 (ref. 57840) | The ancient village of Castle Combe is now famous for its motor racing circuit,
but it still retains its old-world charm. The setting of the 1664 Manor House is
stunningly beautiful, as we can see here. The house was given a new wing in 1873,
and is said to have been Victorianised.
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Chippenham, St Nicholas' Church, Hardenhuish c1960 (ref. C294073) | According to Nikolaus Pevsner, the original design was spoilt by the addition of an arched window to the west of
the Venetian windows, and the small west tower. In the churchyard there is a monument to David Ricardo, 1823,
by William Pitts. It is a Grecian canopy on four Greek Doric columns with an urn at the top and four nearly nude
maidens round the top of a Corinthian column.
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Chiseldon, the Church c1960 (ref. C220012) | Inside, there are many monuments, including a number of interesting tablets of the Georgian period to members
of the Calley family of Burderop Park. Another tablet commemorates Edward Mellish, 1707, and shows a large
family, the man kneeling facing west and the woman east. The church is on the outskirts of the village, and is more
related to the countryside beyond it rather than to the built-up area.
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Colerne, Market Square and Church c1930 (ref. C297006) | With a population of only about 250, Colerne
is a small hill village with a superb church that
has a slender Perpendicular west tower; it
commands a magnificent elevation overlooking
the village and countryside.
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Colerne, Side Chapel, St John's Church c1930 (ref. C297009) | The interior is much earlier than the exterior.
The aisles have Perpendicular windows, but
some extensive restoration has spoilt its earlier
magnificence. The two Victorian Early English
windows and the four-bay arcades of 1200-
10, added since, were overdone. A tomb chest
monument to Richard Walmesley, 1893, has a
very life-like white marble figure asleep holding a
bible. The church also has interesting sculptures,
including a cross-shaft said to be one of the best
9th-century crosses in the West Country. Two
large fragments show motifs that are intertwined
dragons, beautifully carved.
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