Church Of St Mary Magdalen

The Church of St Mary Magdalen is a small medieval parish church located in South Marston, featuring a west tower. It is constructed of rubble with ashlar quoins and dressings, topped with a stone tile roof. The nave has a crenellated parapet and consists of four bays without aisles, primarily designed in the Perpendicular style, characterized by flat-headed 2-light windows. The contemporary south porch retains one pinnacle above a diagonal buttress and features a sundial over the entrance.

The north and south doors are plain 12th-century remnants from an earlier church. The chancel, dating from the 13th century, has two bays and a stepped lancet east window. The tower, built in the 15th century, is crenellated and has two stages, with corbelled diagonal pinnacles that are likely a 19th-century addition, along with a south stair turret and diagonal buttresses on the west side. The west door is in the Perpendicular style, topped by a large 3-light west window. Above this is a niche that contains a statue of Christ, which is either from the 19th century or modern.

An unusual octagonal sanctus turret with ogee decoration on the openings and a weathervane adds to the church's distinctiveness. The south chapel, which forms a gabled transept, and the crenellations were designed by John Belcher in 1886. There is also a vestry located to the northeast.

Inside, the chancel lancets feature unusual rere-splays. The reredos and chancel arch, adorned with nodding ogee canopies, date from the 1886 restoration. Notable memorials include Charity Luke (died 1719) in the south chapel, Thomas Freke (1721), Anthony Southby (1759), and Anne Southby (died 1770), whose memorial features a small urn on an angel corbel. The well-stocked graveyard to the south contains headstones, some of which are double, along with table tombs, primarily from the 18th and 19th centuries.