Church of St. Mary, Maddington, Shrewton

The church is first mentioned in 1179, when it is confirmed as belonging to Amesbury Priory, but it will have been founded some years before this. It remained with Amesbury until 1540. The plan of the present narrow nave could be 12th century and there are fragments of Norman work in it. The chancel and tower are 13th century and the aisle may have been built at this time although it was widened later. The church seems to have remained fairly unchanged until 1603 when the nave roof was renewed, the upper part and the south side of the tower rebuilt, the north wall of the nave moved a further 18 inches further north and a porch added. The base of a preaching cross, formerly in the churchyard, was inverted and used as the base for a buttress at this time. All this work was probably paid for by Giles Tooker, M.P. A west gallery was added, possibly in 1636/7, to house the increasing congregation and in the mid 17th century a transeptal chapel was built.

In the late 17th century Sir Stephen Fox came into possession of the manor and proved a great benefactor to the church. He also rebuilt the chancel and decorated the church interior with elaborate plasterwork c.1699 and built a new Vicarage in 1704. Around 1755 the pinnacles on the tower were either added or replaced. The 19th century restoration took place in 1843-51 under T.H. Wyatt and D. Brandon. There was a new east window and chancel arch and the plasterwork and gallery were removed. On Census Sunday in 1851 there were about 185 at morning service and about 260 in the evening; substantially more than in Shrewton. By 1864 numbers had dropped but there were still 140 in the morning and 190 in the evening.

In 1869 the benefice was united with Shrewton as a joint vicarage. Rollestone rectory was added to this in 1923. There was further restoration of the church in 1896-1900. By the early 1970s the pinnacles on the tower had become unsafe and were removed. In 1975 the church was declared redundant and was vested in the Redundant Churches Fund in 1979. The congregation of Maddington church joined that of Shrewton in their Church of St. Mary. The parish registers dating from 1652 to 1975 are in the Wiltshire & Swindon History Centre in Chippenham.

Additional sites of interest for this church*

Churches Conservation Trust  (added 2022)

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