All Saint's Church, Fittleton

Fittleton’s church is first mentioned in 1291 and is constructed primarily with flint and rubble. The chancel arch and part of the nave are of the late Norman period (13th Century) with the tower arch following in the early 14th century. Construction of the remainder of the tower, particularly the spire and turret were believed to have been completed by the end of the 14th century whilst the clerestory and a new roof were completed about 100 years later. The porch is Elizabethan. The church is visible from the high road between Salisbury and Marlborough and is situated in a valley close to the river Avon. Like many in the Avon valley the church is dedicated to All Saints.  

The advowson of for the church, the right to appoint clergy, followed the descent of Fittleton Manor with few exceptions. These exceptions were typically when family members of the lord of the manor presented instead or when a settlement was paid to the widow of the lord of the manor to present. An exception to this was in 1540 when King Henry VIII exercised his right to present. The advowson followed the lineage of the manor until 1721 when John Briggs sold the advowson to Magdalen College Oxford.

The college supplied many rectors to the parish until it transferred the patronage to the bishop of Salisbury in 1947.  

The architecture of the church appears to be a miniature copy of Enford, with its square turret and small spire. It also has 2 aisles, with 3 large pointed arches between them and the nave, an arch of the same style divides the nave from the chancel. The chancel is 27ft and 10 inches long and 15ft and 6 inches wide. The nave and aisles are 41ft long and 39ft 8 inches wide. 

There are several murals and dedications both in the interior and exterior of the church to people of importance to Fittleton. There are 2 brass plates affixed to the south wall of the chancel are to Thomas Jeay, died 1623, one of many rectors of Fittleton in the Jeay family, and his wife Ann, died 1612. Henry Clark also has a mural on the south aisle and the church contains many murals to members of the Hicks Beach Family who held Fittleton manor for almost 300 years.

These include Michael Hicks Beach and his wife Henrietta Maria, and several of their children, as well as Sir Michael Edward Hicks Beach, 1st Earl of St Aldywn and his son Viscount Quennington.  

The exterior of the church has seen little change since the addition of the porch in the 16th Century. However, the interior saw a mass renovation in the 18th century. Some repairs were undertaken in 1841 with the grant towards it given by Magdalen College. However, the order for the mass renovations was issued in August 1878. The works aimed to refit and reseat the Nave and the Aisles as the box pews and seats were deemed to be in a state of general decay and the rector, churchwardens and residents of the parish had complained about them being too high and uncomfortable. The reseating of the church was also aimed at expanding the capacity available by replacing the box pews with open seats or benches. The church sat 176 residents in 1878 and the renovations aimed at expanding this to 208, due to the parish population increasing.

However, records show that the church sat 195 residents following the renovations, falling slightly short of the 208 that was planned for.  

As well as the nave and the aisles it was also deemed expedient to repair and restore the north piece of the chancel arch, plinth of the tower and other portions of the walls of the buildings; including removing the plaster from the internal walls of the nave and the aisles and recolouring them when necessary. Excavation of the church grounds was also ordered in order to lay pipes, gutters and drains for better ventilation and draining of the churchyard. The full cost of the renovations was estimated to be £400 and was to be provided by the rector Thomas Pearse. Pearse was also responsible for any costs exceeding the estimated £400.  Pearse’s widow and Magdalen college also paid for the restoration of the chancel and the tower in 1903. 

The church has many items of interest. These include a silver-gilt chalice dated 1610 with an inscription reading ‘The gift of Mr. Robert Johnson sometime Parson de Ffittleton in the County of Wiltes’. The chalice was left for the parish by commissioners of Edward VI. Additionally, a silver Paten and Flagon in the church are dated 1720.

2 oak funeral stools are also present, dated 1723, and bearing the letters ‘A.L.’. The stools are also inscribed with what appears to be a metrical version of Psalm 39 written by John Hopkins. The plain sunk panels of the font bowl identify it as being of Norman origin. In 1923 an oak lectern was dedicated to the church and is a memorial to the men in the village who fell during the First World War. 

The church tower at Fittleton has six bells. The newest of which is the current treble bell, cast in 1903 by J. Warner & Sons Ltd, in memory of Thomas Pearse. The bell bears the inscription ‘We praise Thee O God’. Two of the existing bells were recast by J. Warner & Sons in 1903 as well. These include the old treble bell, first cast in 1842 by a Thomas Mears, which is inscribed with ‘O come let us worship’ with the other bell recast in 1903 being much older, having been originally cast in 1679 and bears the words ‘Fear God, honour the King’. The oldest of the bells was originally cast in 1603 by John Wallis, with the words ‘Prayse God’. A John Dauton cast another of the bells in 1628 which is inscribed with ‘O Praise the Lord’. Finally, the tenor bell is dated 1660 and contains the words ‘Anno Domini’.

The tenor bell was cast by John Lott. 

As of 1783 divine service took place at 11am and 3pm on the Lord’s day as well as being performed on weekdays with the Holy Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper being administered four times a year. The parish had between 20-30 communicants at this time with nobody in the parish being absent from public worship or ‘disregarding religion’. However, by 1864 there were around 30 dissenters in the parish, most of whom were Baptist. 

Despite a general lack of open protestant non-conformity in the parish prior to the 19th century, William Byrde, rector of the Church of All Saints in Fittleton in 1511, was arrested and executed in 1540 on charges of treason, due to him secretly keeping the Catholic faith. William Jeay, was another Fittleton rector who saw controversy, serving as rector from 1623, after his father, Jeay was accused of ‘royalist activities and scandalous conduct’, Jeay was removed from the benefice and imprisoned. The Jeay family’s long relationship with the Church was restored upon William’s death in 1659 and his brother, Stephen was presented as rector. Another rector of interest in Fittleton was that of Stephen Jenner.

Jenner served as rector in 1783 whilst he was vice-president of Magdalen college Oxford. He was also the brother of Edward Jenner, the discoverer of vaccination. 

The 20th century saw no further changes to the building of All Saints Church. However, Fittleton’s church saw change in different ways, in 1953 the church was united with the Netheravon Vicarage and 20 years later in 1973 Enford was added. This created the benefice of Netheravon with Fittleton and Enford. Another 20 years on from this, in 1993, the benefice of the Avon Valley was formed. This united Fittleton with Enford, Netheravon, Figheldean, Milston and Bulford.