Abbey Church Of St Mary And St Aldhelm

This Benedictine abbey church, now serving as the parish church, has a complex and distinguished history. The church was founded around 637 by the Irish hermit Mailduib, and a monastery was established during the abbacy of Aldhelm (approximately 675-705), though no pre-12th century work survives. The present building was probably begun under Bishop Roger (approximately 1118-1139), with most of the church dating from around 1160-1180. The original medieval structure comprised a nine-bay aisled nave, transepts with east chapels, chancel, ambulatory with three radiating chapels, and south porch. Between 1350 and 1450, the church was substantially rebuilt above gallery level with a clerestory, vault, crossing spire and west towers, a lengthened chancel and Lady Chapel. The spire fell in 1479.

After the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the nave was altered by William Stumpe of Abbey House and the damaged western parts were walled off to create the parish church. The west tower collapsed around 1662. The west window was installed by Goodridge in 1830, and the west end was restored in 1903. The church is built of limestone ashlar with stone tiles. The 12th-century work is in the late Romanesque style, whilst the 14th-century extensions are in the Decorated Gothic style. Since the Dissolution, the plan has been reduced to the six eastern bays of the nave, with short lengths of transept walls and the south corner of the west end.

Exterior

The east end features a single north chancel bay and matching chancel arch with paired half shafts set in square piers with quarter round capitals, beneath the two-centred arched line of the vault, with tas-de-charges decorated with sunken mouchettes. The jambs of the next eastern bay have matching aisle and triforium semi-circular jambs with chevron mouldings.

The inner wall of the north transept contains a blocked two-centred aisle arch housing a 16th-century doorway and three-light mullioned window, with a blind round-arched doorway to the right. The six-bay north elevation has a blind former cloister wall along the aisle divided by buttresses, with a roll-top coping, and round-arched windows above a sill band containing 14th-century tracery. A steep gable in the fourth bay contains a three-light Decorated tracery window. At the left end is a blocked, round-arched 12th-century doorway with an archivolt of relief palmettes, and a cusped cinquefoil arch set within. The 14th-century clerestory has flying buttresses with tall pyramidal pinnacles between three-light two-centred arched windows (two-light at the east end), with paterae to each side of the three eastern windows.

The south transept matches the north transept arrangement. Beyond the aisle arch are two bays, with an incomplete arcade of interlacing round arches with chevron moulding beneath two storeys of round-arched windows with splayed reveals. The lower windows are flanked by narrow round-arched recesses containing inner arches open to a passage through the walls. The arcade continues along the former external side of the south transept and along the nine-bay south elevation, which otherwise matches the north side with a Decorated cusped openwork parapet to aisle and nave. The second and third bays from the east contain 14th-century two-centred windows with Decorated tracery.

The 12th-century porch was rebuilt externally in the 14th century with angle buttresses. It has a very fine splayed round-arched entrance of three orders, without capitals, richly carved with iconographic Biblical scenes set in oval panels and separated by richly carved mouldings, with a hood featuring dog head stops. Inside is a similarly-moulded doorway and 14th-century door, beneath a tympanum of Christ in Glory supported by two angels. Along both sides runs a round-arched arcade above a bench, beneath finely-carved lunettes each depicting six Apostles with a horizontal flying angel above. In the east re-entrant is a square stair turret with a pyramidal roof.

The incomplete west end has a massive clasping buttress stair turret to the south corner in four stages separated by moulded strings. It is blank from the ground, with a pair of blind round-arched panels containing lower arched panels to the second stage, an arcade of narrow interlacing round-arches to the third, and a taller arcade to the fourth stage with square section mouldings. The bay to the left matches the south aisle, with a pair of round arches with flanking half arches at the second stage enriched with chevron moulding, containing pairs of round-arches. Above is an arcade of five round-arches, and a blind wall topped with a 20th-century parapet. The south side of the central entrance bay has the jamb of a round-arched entrance with two orders carved as the south porch and plain capitals, beneath the jamb of a large 14th-century west window with the springers of four cusped transoms.

Interior

The nave arcade has round shafts with scallop capitals supporting sharply moulded two-centred arches, with billet mouldings to the two eastern arches and billet hoods with dog head stops. The triforium has blind round arches with attached shafts to cushion capitals and chevron moulding, with an arcade of four similar arches within. Splayed clerestory windows have rere arches. An attached shaft extends up from the piers to 14th-century tas-de-charges, and a lierne vault with carved bosses. A 'Watching Loft' is corbelled out above the fourth pier on the south side of the nave, with plain openings and billet moulded cornice.

The 12th-century aisles have pointed quadripartite vaults and benches, with the blind arcade of the outside beneath the windows. On the south side, the middle columns are absent. The eastern end bays have 15th-century stone screens with Perpendicular tracery. To the left of the entrance is a winder stair to the 14th-century parvis over the porch, which has 20th-century panelling.

Memorials

Running counter-clockwise from the entrance, the memorials include: a wall monument to Joseph Cullerne, died 1764, a marble panel with raised bracketed top section; wall monument to Robert Greenway, died 1751, a marble shield; wall monument to Bartholomew Hiren, died 1703, a panel with a broken pediment.

At the west end is a wall monument to Dame Cyscely Marshal, died 162?, with a slate panel in a carved alabaster frame, and to the left a late 17th-century cartouche with drapes.

In the north aisle stands a dresser tomb of King Athelston, died 939, with narrow buttresses to the sides, a recumbent figure of the King with his feet on a lion, and a vaulted canopy behind his head. Wall monument to Elizabeth Warneford, died 1631, a slate plaque set in a moulded alabaster frame with shields along the sides, a cartouche, and a segmental cornice over. Wall tablet to Isaac Watts, died 1789, an oval marble panel set in slate. Wall tablet to Johannes Willis, mid-18th century, a marble panel with gadroon beneath and a cornice. Wall tablet to G.I. Saunders, died 1806, with a round-arched top and moulded frame. Wall tablet to Elizabeth George, died 1806, a well-carved cartouche with putti below. Wall tablet to Edward Cullerne, died 1765, marble with yellow marble inserts and a pediment. Wall tablet to Mary Thomson, died 1723, a stone panel with draped surround including an hourglass. Wall tablet facing the entrance to Willima Robernce (?), died 1799, a stone frame including a small inscribed pointing hand in the corner.

Set in the chancel floor are a group of eight brasses from late 17th to mid-18th century.

Fittings

The fittings include a round 15th-century font from St Mary Westport, with a turned base and fluted sides. At the west end of the nave is the font used since the 17th century. In the south aisle, a glass case contains a verge of 1615, carved with features of the Abbey. At the east end of the south aisle is the parish chest dated 1638, panelled with three locks. A communion rail of around 1700 has twisted balusters. In the parvis are kept four volumes of an illustrated manuscript Bible of 1407.

Glass

The north aisle contains mostly 14th-century glass. The Luce window in the south aisle was designed by Burne Jones and made by William Morris.

Historical Context

The use of pointed arches and vaults in the aisles is structurally advanced and transitional with Early Gothic, linking Malmesbury with subsequent West Country churches. However, the carving is Anglo-Saxon in character, probably borrowed from manuscript illustrations. The conventual buildings stood on the north side of the church. For the reredorter and sections of the precinct wall, see Abbey House and Market Cross, and for the guest house, see Old Bell Hotel, Gloucester Street.