Shrewton is a village in
WiltshireWiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...
,
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, located around 9 km west of
AmesburyAmesbury is a town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. It is most famous for the prehistoric monument of Stonehenge which is in its parish, and for the discovery of the Amesbury Archer—dubbed the King of Stonehenge in the press—in 2002...
and 14 miles (22.5 km) north of
SalisburySalisbury is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England and the only city in the county. It is the second largest settlement in the county...
. It lies on the
A360 roadThe A360 is a minor A road in Wiltshire, England, running from Devizes to Salisbury, through the villages of Potterne, West Lavington, Tilshead, and Shrewton, and passing near Stonehenge....
between
StonehengeStonehenge is a prehistoric monument located in the English county of Wiltshire, about west of Amesbury and north of Salisbury. One of the most famous sites in the world, Stonehenge is composed of a circular setting of large standing stones set within earthworks...
and
TilsheadTilshead is a small village located in Wiltshire, in England. It lies approximately midway between the villages of Shrewton and Market Lavington, and is located at the source of the River Till. Its population in 2001 was 359, down from a peak of 989 inhabitants in 1951.. The White Barrow long...
. It is close to the source of the
River TillThe River Till is a river that rises near Tilshead on Salisbury Plain, and which flows south and south-east to join the River Wylye near Stapleford. It also flows through Shrewton and Winterbourne Stoke. It has been designated as a SSSI site....
, which flows south to
StaplefordStapleford is a village and civil parish about north of Wilton, Wiltshire, England. The village is on the River Till just above its confluence with the River Wylye...
. Its population at the
2001 CensusA nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK Census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194....
was 1,826, as compared with 1,259 people in 1951. The village has a football team,
Shrewton UnitedShrewton United F.C. are a football club based in Shrewton, Wiltshire, England. They won the Wiltshire Football League Premier Division in 2001-02 and 2002-03...
, and a cricket side who play in the Hampshire League.
St Mary's ChurchSt Mary's Church in the Maddington area of Shrewton, Wiltshire, in the west of England, was built in the late 12th century. It has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade II* listed building, and is now a redundant church in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust...
in the
MaddingtonMaddington is a small settlement and former civil parish in Wiltshire, England. Its nearest town is Amesbury, six miles away to the south east. Since 1934 Maddington has been part of Shrewton....
part of the parish was built in the late 12th century. It has been designated as a Grade II*
listed building and is now in the care of the
Churches Conservation TrustThe Churches Conservation Trust, which was initially known as the Redundant Churches Fund, is a charity whose purpose is to protect historic churches at risk, those that have been made redundant by the Church of England. The Trust was established by the Pastoral Measure of 1968...
. The church has
NormanAbout|Romanesque architecture, primarily English|other buildings in Normandy|Architecture of Normandy.File:Durham Cathedral. Nave by James Valentine c.1890.jpg|thumb|200px|The nave of Durham Cathedral demonstrates the characteristic round arched style, though use of shallow pointed arches above the...
origins, belonging to Amesbury Priory in 1179, with the earliest parts of the existing building dating from the late 12th and early 13th century, however there have been several alterations since, including the renewel of the roof of the
naveIn Romanesque and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar, the main body of the church. "Nave" was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting...
in 1603. Sir
Stephen FoxSir Stephen Fox was an English politician.-Life:Stephen Fox was the son of William Fox, of Farley, in Wiltshire, a yeoman farmer...
became the lord of the manor in the late 17th century and paid for the rebuilding the chancel and redecoration. In 1853 the
chancelIn church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar in the sanctuary at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building...
was rebuilt and the whole church
restoredVictorian restoration is the term commonly used to refer to the widespread and extensive refurbishment and rebuilding of Church of England churches and cathedrals that took place in England and Wales during the 19th-century reign of Queen Victoria...
by
Thomas Henry WyattThomas Henry Wyatt was an Irish British architect. He had a prolific and distinguished career, being elected President of the Royal Institute of British Architects 1870-73 and awarded their Royal Gold Medal for Architecture in 1873...
, including the erection of the gabled porch. The walls of the nave and chancel have a chequerboard pattern of
flintFlint is a hard, sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as a variety of chert. It occurs chiefly as nodules and masses in sedimentary rocks, such as chalks and limestones. Inside the nodule, flint is usually dark grey, black, green, white, or brown in colour, and...
and
sandstoneSandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
. There is a low west tower. The interior includes a large plaster
cartoucheIn Egyptian hieroglyphs, a cartouche is an ellipse with a horizontal line at one end, indicating that the text enclosed is a royal name, coming into use during the beginning of the Fourth Dynasty under Pharaoh Sneferu, replacing the earlier serekh...
of
strapworkIn the history of art and design, the term strapwork refers to a stylised representation in ornament of strips or bands of curling leather, parchment or metal cut into elaborate shapes, with piercings and often interwoven...
enclosing the date 1637, which may the date of construction of a gallery which has since been demolished. The
stained glassThe term stained glass can refer to coloured glass as a material or to works produced from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant buildings...
includes work by
Alexander GibbsAlexander Gibbs was the name of a British firm of several generations of the Gibbs family, who commenced business in 1813 and in 1848 began producing stained glass windows.- See also :* Stained glass* Stained glass - British glass, 1811-1918* Victorian Era...
in the south
aisleAn aisle is, in general, a space for walking with rows of seats on both sides or with rows of seats on one side and a wall on the other...
. The church was declared
redundantA redundant church is a church building that is no longer required for regular public worship. The phrase is particularly used to refer to former Anglican buildings in the United Kingdom, but may refer to any disused church building around the world...
in 1975 and passed to the Redundant Churches Fund in 1979 which later became the Churches Conservation Trust.
The parish now uses the other St Mary's church, in Shrewton, as distinct from St Mary's, Maddington.
St Andrew's ChurchSt Andrew's Church, Rollestone, Wiltshire, England was built in the early 13th century. It has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade II* listed building, and is now a redundant church in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust...
in the
RollestoneRollestone is a small village and former civil parish in Wiltshire, England. Its nearest town is Amesbury, about away to the east.Rollestone is now part of the parish of Shrewton....
settlement was built in the early 13th century. It has been designated as a Grade II*
listed building and is now in the care of the
Churches Conservation TrustThe Churches Conservation Trust, which was initially known as the Redundant Churches Fund, is a charity whose purpose is to protect historic churches at risk, those that have been made redundant by the Church of England. The Trust was established by the Pastoral Measure of 1968...
. The church is built of
flintFlint is a hard, sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as a variety of chert. It occurs chiefly as nodules and masses in sedimentary rocks, such as chalks and limestones. Inside the nodule, flint is usually dark grey, black, green, white, or brown in colour, and...
and stone in a chequerwork pattern. It has two large Perpendicular windows, and a
fontA baptismal font is an article of church furniture or a fixture used for the baptism of children and adults.-Aspersion and affusion fonts:...
from the 13th century. The oak benches were brought from the redundant church of St Catherine’s at Haydon, Dorset in 1981.
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