The Garrison Church of St Alban the Martyr is a

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

church in

Larkhill Larkhill is a garrison town in the civil parish of Durrington, Wiltshire, England. It lies about west of the centre of Durrington village and north of the prehistoric monument of Stonehenge. It is about north of Salisbury. The settlement ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...

, England.

History

The garrison church, dedicated to St Alban the Martyr and St Barbara, was built in 1937 and replaced an earlier wooden church. The architect, as for the officers' mess, was William Ross; construction is in red brick, with a short southwest tower. In 2011 the church became the regimental church of the Royal Artillery. The regimental chapel at the Woolwich Barracks closed around the same time, and two stained glass windows were moved to the Larkhill church where they are displayed in lightboxes. One of these is by Christopher Whall, an Arts & Crafts artist. In 2015, as part of the 300th anniversary celebrations of the Royal Artillery, an additional memorial was created outside the existing structure. Designed to look like the surviving perimeter wall and chapel of St George's Garrison Church, Woolwich, the former Royal Artillery Garrison Chapel, it is painted in the Regimental colours of red and blue. The memorial houses some of the memorial plaques from the Woolwich chapel and a memorial to those members of the Royal Artillery who have been awarded the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious decoration of the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British decorations system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British ...

. Planned to be completed in time for the 300th anniversary in May 2016, construction was delayed due to concerns over the impact of work close to the

Stonehenge World Heritage Site Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites is a UNESCO World Heritage Site (WHS) in Wiltshire, England. The WHS covers two large areas of land separated by about , rather than a specific monument or building. The sites were inscribed as co-listing ...

. Instead, Her Majesty the Queen, the Royal Artillery Captain General, laid the cornerstone during her visit to Larkhill in May 2016 and the building was completed in time for the dedication ceremony at the annual St Barbara's Day Service (the Royal Artillery's Patron Saint) on 4 December 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Larkhill, Saint Alban

20th-century Church of England church buildings Grade II listed churches in Wiltshire English churches dedicated to St Alban