Parish Church of St Mary is a Grade I listed building in the Swindon local planning authority area, England. First listed on 26 January 1955. A C13 Church.

Parish Church of St Mary

WRENN ID
burning-moulding-thrush
Grade
I
Local Planning Authority
Swindon
Constituency
Swindon North MP: Will Stone (Lab)
Country
England
Date first listed
26 January 1955
Type
Church
Address
Parish Church of St Mary, the Street, Castle Eaton
OS grid reference
SU 146 959
Coordinates
51.66237, -1.7898
Source
Historic England listing

Also on this page: flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

The Parish Church of St Mary, located in Castle Eaton, is primarily from the 13th century with later work by architect William Butterfield. The church features a rubble construction with a stone tile roof. It has a two-stage crenellated west tower and a four-bay nave that includes a gabled 15th-century south porch. The chancel, built in the late 13th century, has three bays. Notably, there is a corbelled belfry over the crossing, topped with a spire and weathervane. The nave contains an early 14th-century window and two restored geometric-type windows, while the chancel windows are plain with slight cusping.

To the north-east, there is a projecting gabled vestry from the 1860s, featuring small two-light cellar or damp proof windows and a reticulated window to the east. The porch is supported by diagonal buttresses and has a niche above; the south door is late Norman, adorned with two slightly carved caps on the nook shafts, a chevron and roll label with pellets, and dragon head stops. The tower, dating from the 15th century, has a high stepped and twice moulded plinth with diagonal outer buttresses, and it features two-light belfry windows with foiled square heads and drips. The pointed west door is complemented by a Perpendicular period window above. The north side of the church has a catslide roof and a plain Norman arched north door.

Inside the porch, there is a large effigy slab of a knight, likely from the mid-14th century, for a brass. The interior has seen some changes, with the north arcade removed and replaced by timber posts, and a wall painting of the Virgin on the east chamfered respond. A notable Jacobean pulpit incorporates part of a 15th-century screen. The tower chamber contains several memorials, the most distinguished being one to Walter Parker, who died in 1664, featuring a swagged oval with two putti supporting arms. The graveyard to the south includes numerous 18th and 19th-century tombstones, several with carved angel heads, two early 19th-century chest tombs, and one moulded unscrolled top of a bale tomb located to the south of the church.

Local climate

Parish Church of St Mary receives an average of 790 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 57% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 55% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 37 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 69% of listed buildings. Of these, 17 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.

Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.

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