Christ Church, Warminster
Warminster Common had long been the place where houses were built on the waste by poorer members of the community. By the 19th century it was a very rough area and clergymen frequently wrote that every type of depravity took place there. From the late 18th century Anglican services were held in cottages on the Common and in 1826 the new vicar of Warminster saw that a church was needed. The church was actually built up above the Common on Sambourne Hill where it looked down on the existing Baptist chapel. Completed in 1831 to the design of John Leachman, it had a nave and western tower in the Early English style. With a western gallery there was accommodation for 800.
It was not popular with the later Victorians, who considered it a 'huge, oblong. naked hall', and in 1871 T.H. Wyatt added a chancel, various decorations and stained glass windows. It became a traditional church. Originally it was a chapel of ease to St Denys's but in 1863 it became a parish in its own right. The early clergy worked among the poor people and the simple services attracted people, often from the better off families, from all over the town. An organ was provided in 1843 and a peal of 8 tubular bells in 1888. In the late 20th century the roof had been in need of repair for several years and this was completed in 1996. The parish registers from 1831 (christenings), 1833 (burials) and 1839 (marriages), other than those in current use, are held by the Wiltshire and Swindon Record Office.
It was not popular with the later Victorians, who considered it a 'huge, oblong. naked hall', and in 1871 T.H. Wyatt added a chancel, various decorations and stained glass windows. It became a traditional church. Originally it was a chapel of ease to St Denys's but in 1863 it became a parish in its own right. The early clergy worked among the poor people and the simple services attracted people, often from the better off families, from all over the town. An organ was provided in 1843 and a peal of 8 tubular bells in 1888. In the late 20th century the roof had been in need of repair for several years and this was completed in 1996. The parish registers from 1831 (christenings), 1833 (burials) and 1839 (marriages), other than those in current use, are held by the Wiltshire and Swindon Record Office.