Church Of St Mary

The Church of St Mary is a Grade I listed building located on New Park Street in Devizes. It has Norman origins but was largely rebuilt in the 15th century, with the exception of the chancel. The church features a tall and impressive west tower, which includes diagonal buttresses adorned with buttress shafts and pinnacles in relief, as well as crowning pinnacles and an octagonal stair turret. The tower has paired two-light openings at the bell stage and a four-light Perpendicular west window with a transom, flanked by niches. The aisles and clerestory are fitted with three-light Perpendicular windows, and the structure is enhanced by gargoyles and battlement cresting with pinnacles.

The chancel, which retains its Norman character, is constructed with characteristic square stone blocks and has flat buttresses and a corbel table. The east window is Victorian, but above it on the gable end of the 15th-century body of the church is an original canopied niche that contains a 15th-century statue of the Virgin. The south porch is crenellated and two-storeyed, with the entrance showcasing reused Norman zigzag bands around the arch.

Inside, the chancel features two-bay rib vaulting with fat roll mouldings and intersecting arches around the walls, though only a fragment on the south wall is original. The 15th-century body of the church boasts a fine timber roof with a low pitch over the nave, supported by tie beams and tracery. An inscription commemorates the rebuilding of the church by William Smythe, who died in 1436. The church has five-bay arcades with octagonal piers and double hollow chamfered arches, a low panelled chancel arch, and a tall arch leading to the tower, which has a tierceron-star vault, decorative bosses, and a large circular opening for bell ropes. The tower stands as a dominating feature of the street scene.