Church of St. Mary, Alton Barnes

Chancel and Chancel Arch.

In the church of St. Mary all four walls of the nave are Saxon work with pre-Norman influence, as is part of the rest of the church. The damaged west window and the old north doorway date from the 14th century. The two bells in 1553 were replaced by two dated 1626 and 1788 but were rehung from between the ceiling and the roof of the nave in the west gable in 1904. The chancel was reroofed around 1661 and rebuilt in 1748. Alterations were made to the interior of the church in 1832 but around 1875 the Saxon chancel arch collapsed and the east wall of the nave had to be taken down. Under the direction of C.E. Ponting the church and its 15th century roof were restored in 1904. The pulpit and the panels around the reader’s desk dates back to the 18th century, as also does the font. Also fitted in the 18th century were the choir seats. The pews are 19th century.

On the 29th of July, 1938, His Honour Judge John Harold Ellison granted the works requested to be carried out for a restoration. Such works were to strip and retile the chancel roof, to provide 4 inch glass wool over the ceiling joints, untearable felt under the tiles and for the flashings to be fixed where the tiles abutted the nave. On the 22nd of December 1938 the faculty was granted “the installation of a System of Electric Lighting in accordance with the Plan, Specification and Architect’s Report.”

Panels originally hung over the chancel arch since their dimensions were shaped to the recess above the cross beam and were composed of two passages from the Gospels, The Ten Commandments and a Royal Coat of Arms. Unfortunately the present whereabouts of those tablets is unknown and the existing modern inscriptions above the gallery are of lesser interest. The erection of the original writings probably resulted from a Royal Decree of 1603 when ‘most choice sentences of Holy Scriptures’ were authorised to be displayed in all places of worship and the tablets follow the text of the ‘Bishop’s Bible’ which was mainly current until the publication of the ‘Authorized Version’ in 1611. An illegible painted fragment in the nave at Alton Priors may also have stemmed from this period and have a similar history.

For a short period in the 17th century the two congregations of Alton Priors and Alton Barnes were joined but were separated in 1660 because Rev. Wills, who became curate of Alton Priors in 1656, was ejected. Once again, the two Altons were briefly united from 1829 to 1833 when Augustus Hare, rector of Alton Barnes, unofficially served in the chapelry. This separation remained until 1913 when the rectory was united with the chapelry of Alton Priors. When Alton Priors church was declared redundant in 1973 worshippers from that village came to Alton Barnes. The parish registers from 1592 (baptisms), 1597 (marriages), and 1601 (burials), other than those in current use, are held in the Wiltshire & Swindon History Centre at Chippenham.