St Peter's Church, Everleigh

The earliest record of a church at Everleigh seems to be in 1228 when it was granted to Wherwell Abbey, Hampshire. There was a vicarage ordained by 1291 but since the records of presentations begin in the 14th century the living has been a rectory. 

In 1291 it was valued at £8 and the vicarage at £5 6s. By 1535 the value of the church had increased to £19 a year, and by 1650 its annual value was given as £180.  

The living included 18 acres of glebe land consisting of arable land throughout the parish, and a small farm and pastures adjoining the rectory. It was held in plurality with the united benefice of Manningford Abbots and Manningford Bruce from 1967.

It was united with the benefice of Collinbourne in 1975 and the ecclesiastical parish was united with Collingbourne Ducis in 1977 to become a new parish of ‘Collingbourne Ducis and Everleigh’. 

The advowson (the right to present a candidate for a vacant church living) was kept by Wherwell Abbey until the Dissolution and the abbess made the presentations to the rectory. The advowson was then variously bought or granted until 1812 when it was bought by Francis Dugdale Astley. The lords of the manor continued as patrons until 1917.  

Many of the rectors of Everleigh have been non-resident or held other positions. Francis Bickley Astley, rector from 1830, held it in plurality with Manningford Abbots but lived at Manningford. However following this until 1966 his successors lived at Everleigh. In 1966 rector Charles Frederick Smith was appointed to the benefices of Manningford Abbots and Manningford Bruce and lived at Manningford despite the rectory house being rebuilt in 1960.

There have been a few dubious characters installed in the past: it was believed that Dr Samuel Starkey took some of the profits while serving as curate for Everleigh between 1783-1789 and William Eastman, rector under Oliver Cromwell, and known as ‘tinker’, was ejected from the living upon the restoration of Charles II as recorded in the parish register by Thomas Ernle (rector from 1660-1690). 

The medieval church of St Peter was in a different location to the current church, to the south-east of the manor house. Its short tower and aisled nave with porch and descriptions in the parish registers suggest they were built of chalk and flint. There was an elaborately carved parapet reputedly ornamented with the arms of the See of Winchester.  

As early as 1674 the roof was found to be in need of repair and by 1811 it was severely dilapidated held together by iron clams inside and brick buttresses outside. This, combined with its location rather too close to the manor house for some of the Astley’s liking, led to the construction of the new church.

The reasons given in the faculty document granted by the Bishop of Salisbury were the ‘serious and dilapidated state’ of the church and ‘the present situation not being convenient’. The site of new church to the west of the main village made it more accessible to Lower Everleigh (it was fairly common to site church centrally between various centres of population) and reduced the excuse for non-attendance. 

The foundation stone of the current church was laid on 7 May 1813 with its completion in October 1814 after which it was consecrated by the Bishop of Salisbury, John Fisher. The architect was John Morlidge of London, smaller than the original church, and built in Bath stone in a late Gothic style. It was financed by Francis Dugdale Astley and cost £14,000. 

Facing the main south door, a large marble monument is dedicated to Francis Dugdale Astley ‘Founder, Builder and Donor of this Church, and of all the ecclesiastical buildings appertaining to it’. It records his burial in May 1818 in the vault beneath the recently finished church.

There are various other (mostly 18th century) memorials to the Astley family on the walls of the nave. The marble tablet on the north wall of the chancel is dedicated to the memory of Rev Anthony Aylmer Astley, rector between 1877 and 1917 and the last Astley to live in the parish on a permanent basis. Other monuments include a small tablet on the north wall commemorating William Pinkney, a former churchwarden who laid the foundation stone. A marble tablet commemorating the names of Everleigh men who died in the First World War is positioned on the south wall near the door, while in the south porch the Roll of Honour names all of those who served. The 12th century font has been installed, mounted on a modern base. 

At the west end of the nave a large gallery once contained an ancient barrel organ, which was superseded by a new manual organ in 1879 costing £130, positioned in the vestry.

The earlier barrel organ would likely have been accompanied by a band of musicians like those seen in Thomas Hardy’s Under the Greenwood Tree. 

In 1903 the nave underwent restoration work during which the high box pews were converted to those currently there. In 1933 the six bells cast at Aldbourne by James Wells in 1814 and presented by Francis Dugdale Astley were re-hung in ball bearings in the original wooden frame. 

In more recent years the church again became dilapidated and by 1974 the church was redundant. After being approached in 1973, the care of the church was vested in the Redundant Church Fund in 1975. It is Grade II listed. The parish registers are held at the Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre.