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History

History of St Mary’s

The town’s first parish church, with towering grace. Built for the growing community outside the castle in the 12th century, St Mary’s remains a landmark of faith and history.

The Town’s First Parish Church

Before castle walls gave way to town streets, there was St Mary’s - the original parish church of Devizes.

Built for the growing community just outside the castle in the 12th century, it remains a landmark of faith, history and architectural elegance. Let’s wander through centuries of worship, stonework and social change.

St Mary’s Church, Devizes - west tower and churchyard

Foundations

A Church for the Parish, Complementing the Castle

While St John’s Church stood within the castle grounds and served the spiritual needs of the garrison and royal officials, St Mary’s was built to serve the newly growing borough outside the castle walls. The present church, begun in 1143 by Bishop Roger of Salisbury, replaced an earlier and simpler structure that had already been established for the town’s residents.

Over time, St Mary’s became the focal point for civic life beyond the castle, offering space for worship, community gatherings, and charitable foundations. Only the chancel remains from that original 12th-century church - a powerful architectural trace of the town’s early development. Its Norman buttresses and eastern angles are best viewed from the southeast corner of the churchyard.

Architecture

Towering Arches & Medieval Marvels

The star of St Mary’s is undoubtedly its soaring tower arch - a masterpiece of medieval engineering. It rises forty feet high and spans ten feet wide, with its peak level with the top of the clerestory. Major 15th-century alterations included raised walls, new roofs, added buttresses, and the grand two-storey south porch, complete with a stair turret and windows. The impressive west tower was also built during this time. Inside, the 15th-century dole table in the chancel reminds us of a long tradition of giving.

Endowments

Chantries, Lights & Lasting Legacies

In its prime, St Mary’s housed at least three richly endowed chantries, all founded by members of the Coventry family - John Coventry the elder, John Coventry the younger (d. before 1475), and William Coventry, who set aside an annuity for four poor women in the alms-house. Devizes residents also gave generously to maintain lights and masses in the church, with foundations recorded for John Ocle, John Field, Richard Gobett and William Smith, among others. Many of these faded from records after the Reformation.

A masterpiece of medieval engineering

The soaring tower arch rises forty feet high and spans ten feet wide - its peak level with the top of the clerestory.

A Medieval Survival

The Virgin and Child on the Nave Roof

High on the tallest pinnacle of the nave roof, St Mary’s still keeps a rare and precious survival: a medieval statue of the Virgin Mary holding the infant Christ. Weathered by centuries of Wiltshire wind and rain, the carving has lost much of its finer detail, yet the figures remain unmistakable - Mary’s head inclined gently towards the child cradled in her arms.

Statues like this were once common on English parish churches, but the vast majority were destroyed during the Reformation and the iconoclasm of the mid-17th century, when religious imagery was widely condemned and removed. That this one has endured, quietly watching over the town from its perch above the nave, makes it a remarkable and tangible link to the church’s medieval past.

Two Churches, One Parish

Linked in History to St John’s

St Mary’s and St John’s have always shared a single rector, and for much of history were spoken of together. By 1400, the parish was officially known as “The Church of St John with St Mary annexed” - a sign of their intertwined story. Though smaller in scale, St Mary’s owned numerous plots of land in Devizes from the 13th century onward, which helped fund church operations for generations.

Harmony & Controversy

18th & 19th Century Change

In 1783, both churches held alternating services, sharing a congregation that worshipped together. By 1800, services were held in both churches every Sunday, and by 1810 there were two services each. Things turned dramatic under Rev. E. J. Phipps (1833–53), whose ritualistic practices drew public protest, and by 1853 St Mary’s was locked against its own rector. He left soon after.

Resilience

Repairs & Preservation

By the 1890s, the tower was cracking, and it was carefully repaired in 1897–98. The church we see today - of dressed stone with a chancel, aisled clerestoried nave, south porch, and west tower - reflects centuries of evolution and resilience. Step inside via the south porch and you’re greeted by elegant arcades, the dramatic tower arch, and Norman features at the east end. Records, dating from 1569, are kept at the Wiltshire and Swindon Record Office.

Curious details

Fun historical facts

01The bells were rung to mark markets, important announcements, and town warnings.
02Stonemasons left secret marks on the building stones as their signature.
03The tower once served as a lookout point over the town of Devizes.
04Medieval graffiti can still be found scratched into the interior walls.
05Parishioners used heated stones to keep warm during chilly services.

A Living Church

Living History of Devizes’ Spiritual Life

St Mary’s remains an important building in Devizes to this day, serving not only as a place of worship but also as a community hub. The church hosts regular services, concerts, and events that bring together people from all walks of life.

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A remarkable witness to the spiritual and civic evolution of Devizes.

The Sweetland Organ

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