Gates, Gate Piers And Walls To St Mary'S Churchyard, Including Proclamation Steps

The gates, gate piers, and walls surrounding St Mary's Churchyard in Calne are primarily from the mid-19th century, though some earlier materials are present. The gate piers are made of limestone ashlar, with quoins on intermittent piers and capping on the walls, while the rest of the structure is built from rubblestone. There are pairs of gate piers at the south, west, north-west, and north-east corners, each featuring truncated stepped pyramidal tops and chamfered plinths. The southern piers, located at the base of a wide flight of steps leading to the south porch, support an ornate iron overthrow with twisted scrolls and an empty lantern frame at the center. The north-west piers hold double iron gates with horizontal bands of pierced quincunx design at the top, bottom, and center, while the north-east piers flank the top of the Proclamation Steps. The walls, which once had iron railings, are punctuated by low square piers approximately every 5 meters. From the Proclamation Steps at the north-east corner, the walls rise for about 40 meters along the east side, descend for roughly 75 meters along the south side, flank the south gate, extend about 45 meters along the west side, and 25 meters to the north. The wall at the north-east is a rubblestone revetment wall with widely spaced railings. The Proclamation Steps consist of a flight of 11 stone steps leading from Mill Street to the north-west corner of the churchyard, with railings on the east side.