Church of St. Edmund of Abingdon, Salisbury

Building work on the church began in 1264 and in 1269 Bishop de la Wyle founded a collegiate church here in 1269 to serve the newly created parish of St. Edmund. Nothing remains of this church and in 1407 a church here was said to be newly built. It was cruciform with a central tower, aisled nave, aisled chancel, a south Lady Chapel and a north chapel of St. John the Baptist. The nave was used as the parish church and the chancel used by the priests of the college. In 1624 the state of the tower was causing concern as the roof of the chancel was slipping away from it. In 1638 three buttresses were built to support the north wall and in 1653 all but two bells and the weather vane were removed from the tower.

This was not enough and a few days later the tower fell, demolishing the nave. The work on clearing and rebuilding probably also altered the chancel and its aisles to form the nave and aisles of the present church. A new tower, in late Perpendicular style, was completed in 1655 at the western end. At some time before 1843 the small chancel with aisles was extended eastwards. Between 1865 and 1867 there was a restoration under Sir George Gilbert Scott and the chancel was rebuilt with a sacristy on the north and a chapel on the south. The former eastern walls of the 15th century aisles were re-erected to form the eastern end of the new extension. Box pews, galleries and the 3 decker pulpit were removed. In 1954 the chancel was again altered when re-modelling provided more space.

By 1500 the church had six bells and in 1656, after the rebuilding of the tower, a new peal of six were cast; four of these are in the present peal of eight. During the 16th and 17th centuries there was much disagreement over the churchyard, which had been included in the sale of college premises in 1549. Eventually the churchyard was returned to the parish in 1638. In the early 1970s the church was declared redundant and a new use was found for an important building when it opened as an arts centre in 1975, a role which it still fulfills. The parish registers, from 1560-1973 for births, 1559-1966 for marriages, and 1559-1973 for burials, are held in the Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre in Chippenham.