Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Upavon

A church belonging to the Norman St. Wandrille's Abbey stood here in 1086 and was served by a clerk. It is reasonable to assume that there was a Saxon church that was replaced by a Norman one in the 12th century. The chancel is from the 12th century and by the middle of that century a rector had been presented and a priory established, which remained until 1378. It was apparently a poor priory with only a small farm and few livestock. When alien orders were expelled from England there were only three monks at Upavon in 1378. The nave, with north and south aisles, is 13th century while the west tower was built in the late 13th century. By 1299 a vicarage was ordained and by 1308 the church was dedicated to St. Mary. Windows in the north aisle were replaced and a north porch built in the 14th century. However by the late 14th and early 15th centuries the chancel was said to be in disrepair and there was bird droppings on the altar owing to holes in the roof; in 1411 it was stated that the church was ruinous. This probably came about through a succession of absentee vicars while the removal of the priory could have been a contributory factor. During the 15th century the chancel was repaired and the nave and aisles re-roofed. The chancel was also provided with a new east window. Problems in the 16th century included a violent and drunken vicar, no registers kept and no quarterly sermons given.

From the late 16th century there was a vicarage house, although there still seems to have been absentee vicars.

From 1827 all vicars lived in the village and in 1833 it was reported that the vicarage to the north of the church, behind the High Street, was 'unfit for residence'. A new one was built, east of the river Avon, in 1833. Church attendance was reasonably good in the 19th century and on Census Sunday in 1851 there was 100 worshippers at morning service and 150 in the afternoon. Over the next 20 years there were considerable changes in the fabric. By 1859 the south aisle had been removed and in 1864 it was said that the nave and roof were in need of repair. The Victorian restoration came about in 1875-6; the chancel to the designs of T. H. Wyatt and the nave to the designs of J. P. Seddon. There were new roofs, the nave and north aisle were rebuilt, new windows inserted and the porch rebuilt and a vestry added. In 1939 the vicarage of Upavon was united with the rectory of Rushall. In 2006 the benefice is Upavon with Rushall and Charlton. The octagonal Norman font has carvings including an Annunciation scene. The five bells were recast in 1910 and a sixth (treble) added. The registers from 1687 (baptisms and burials) and 1760 (marriages), other than those in current use, are held in the Wiltshire & Swindon History Centre in Chippenham.