St Nicholas Church

The church of St Nicholas is built of stone and flint in the Early English style and has a chancel, nave, south porch and north vestry. The west wall is built of 17^th-18^th century bi-coloured brick. The church was rebuilt in 1879 and is entirely Victorian inside. In 1965 a drainage trench was dug around the church and some decorated tiles were dug up. Further excavations in the summer of 1966 revealed a chapel built to the north of the chancel and the south-east buttresses of the original church. There was a church at Huish by 1291 and the excavations are from approximately this date. The chapel was refurbished in the15th century. The date of its demolition or collapse are unknown.

By the late 17^th century, the church had fallen into decay. The churchwardens repeatedly presented to the bishop that it needed repair. In 1672 the rural dean reported that the chancel was unroofed and unpaved and the porch was in decay. In 1688 the spire was taken down and a frame for the bells erected at the west end of the church. The need to rebuild was acknowledged in 1751 and the church was in danger of collapse in 1784.

The patrons of Huish church were the trustees of Froxfield Hospital, and a new church was built in 1785. It consisted of a nave, a small chancel, and a south porch. In1812 the rural dean reported that the church had been rebuilt without aisles and was shorter than the previous church.

It had been given a chancel arch of lath and plaster and a flat plaster ceiling; the single bell was hung inside the roof. The dean was also very disturbed by the loss of the original font, which he later saw outside a house in Marlborough. The new font put in place during the rebuild he described as an ‘absurd thing like an egg cup.’

By the 1870s the church was again in need of repair. In 1878 a faculty was granted to reroof and refit the whole church, and to add a vestry room and organ chamber. The cost quoted in the faculty document was estimated at £650. £500 had already been raised from donations, plus £55 in grants. The parishioners were confident that they could raise the remaining £100. However, an article in the parish magazine in May 1878 asked for more donations. The builder’s estimate was higher than expected, at £814. The rector explained that due to the sad state of the church, more work was needed than originally expected; he was concerned that some work would remain undone if the money could not be raised. Such was the popularity of the rector, the final total raised was over £1000. The population of Huish in 1871 was 128. The old church had seating for 80 people, the new church would accommodate 105.

In 1553 Huish had two bells.

By the 19^th century, there was only a single bell that had been cast at Warminster in 1668 and recast in 1883.

Until the 19^th century, the living was held by the rector of Beechingstoke. A glebe terrier dated 1705 describes a very simple dwelling house, consisting of just three rooms, a barn, a stable, a cart house and a garden with a few apple trees. Charles Mayo was rector of Beechingstoke and Huish from 1775-1830. He was responsible for both the 1785 rebuild and also the building of a rectory in 1812. This is a two-storey, double-fronted building of brick, with a mansard roof. The central doorway has a Doric porch. When Mayo died in 1830 the two parishes were separated, and William Bleeck became the new rector of Huish. This impressive building would no doubt have been an encouragement to Bleeck to accept this new living. He added a parallel, rear, three-storey block (the date 1830 W.B is on the hopper).

In 1783 a weekly service was held at Huish and Holy Communion was celebrated four times a year for ten communicants. In 1812 there were said to be only three communicants. By 1864 there were two services each Sunday and Communion four times a year for approximately six people. The rector estimated his congregation to be about 40 and complained that they would rather attend the newly built Primitive Methodist chapel or the church at Oare.

The Reverend Richard Dartnell was appointed in 1874.

He quickly became popular with his parishioners and was particularly concerned with the care of the poor. When he died suddenly of heart failure in 1893, at the age of 67, there was a lengthy tribute in the Wiltshire County Mirror. Dartnell was the chaplain to the Pewsey Poor Law Union for 17 years and a regular visitor to the workhouse.

After the First World War, both Huish and Oare churches were in the care of the same incumbent. In 1921 they were officially combined into one parish. In 1963 the two churches joined with Wilcot. In 1975 the Swanborough Team was created, a total of 11 churches. In 1998 it became the Pewsey and Swanborough Team. The last change took place in 2010, with the creation of the 16 church Vale of Pewsey Team.

The parish registers for Huish, dating back to 1603, can all be seen at the Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre, with the exception of the registers that are currently in use.