St Margaret of Antioch Church in

Leigh Delamere Leigh Delamere is a small village in the civil parish of Grittleton in the English county of Wiltshire, about northwest of the town of Chippenham. The M4 motorway passes some 250 metres to the south, and the motorway's Leigh Delamere service ...

, Wiltshire, England was built on the site of a previous 12th-century church in 1846 and dedicated to

Margaret the Virgin Margaret, known as Margaret of Antioch in the West, and as Saint Marina the Great Martyr () in the East, is celebrated as a saint on 20 July in Western Christianity, on 30th of July (Julian calendar) by the Eastern Orthodox Church, and on Epip ...

. It is recorded in the

National Heritage List for England The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, ...

as a Grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

, and is now a

redundant church A redundant church, now referred to as a closed church, is a church building that is no longer used for Christian worship. The term most frequently refers to former Anglican churches in the United Kingdom, but may also be used for disused churche ...

in the care of the

Churches Conservation Trust The Churches Conservation Trust is a registered charity whose purpose is to protect historic churches at risk in England. The charity cares for over 350 churches of architectural, cultural and historic significance, which have been transferred in ...

. It was declared redundant on 1 November 1992, and was

vested In law, vesting is the point in time when the rights and interests arising from legal ownership of a property are acquired by some Legal person, person. Vesting creates an immediately secured right of present or future deployment. One has a vest ...

in the Trust on 16 December 1993. The previous church had been built around 1190, in an Early English style with

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 9th and 10th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norma ...

features. In 1301 the patron of the church was John De la Mare. By 1846 the church was in a dilapidated condition and it would have cost more to repair than rebuild. The new church was commissioned by

Joseph Neeld Joseph Neeld (1789–1856) was Member of Parliament of the United Kingdom for the rotten borough of Gatton, Surrey from March to July 1830 and for Chippenham, Wiltshire, England from September 1830 to March 1856. Career Neeld was one of five ...

and designed by James Thomson, who also designed the nearby

Grittleton House Grittleton House is a English country house, country house in the village of Grittleton, Wiltshire, England, about northwest of the town of Chippenham. It is a building of historical significance and is Grade II* listed on the English Heritage R ...

. Stonework from the earlier church, including the bell tower, was reused by Thomson to build Sevington School. The

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, a Germanic people **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Gothic alphabet, an alphabet used to write the Gothic language ** Gothic ( ...

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

includes a

reredos A reredos ( , , ) is a large altarpiece, a screen, or decoration placed behind the altar in a Church (building), church. It often includes religious images. The term ''reredos'' may also be used for similar structures, if elaborate, in secular a ...

which is carved and decorated in many colours. The west window has

stained glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

by Thomas Wilmshurst. There are many memorials including those to the

Neeld Baronets The Neeld Baronetcy, of Grittleton in the County of Wiltshire, was a title in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 20 April 1859 for John Neeld, a Conservative politician and Gentleman of the Privy Chamber to Queen Victoria ...

. A new organ was installed in 1896, and electricity supplied in 1949, although attendance by this time was very low. The building was designated as Grade II* listed in 1960, and the roadside

lychgate A lychgate (from Old English ''līc'', corpse) or resurrection gate is a covered gateway found at the entrance to a traditional English or English-style churchyard. Examples also exist outside the British Isles in places such as Newfoundland, the ...

as Grade II in 1988. In the 21st century a 15th-century stone

rood A rood or rood cross, sometimes known as a triumphal cross, is a cross or crucifix, especially the large crucifix set above the entrance to the chancel of a medieval church. Alternatively, it is a large sculpture or painting of the crucifixio ...

which had been hidden under the pews was restored by Minerva Conservation and placed in the chancel. In 2016 the church was used as a venue for "pop-up"

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

with a performance of

The Barber of Seville ''The Barber of Seville, or The Useless Precaution'' ( ) is an ''opera buffa'' (comic opera) in two acts composed by Gioachino Rossini with an Italian libretto by Cesare Sterbini. The libretto was based on Pierre Beaumarchais's French comedy ' ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leigh Delamere, St Margaret of Antioch Church of England church buildings in Wiltshire Churches completed in 1846 Grade II* listed churches in Wiltshire Churches preserved by the Churches Conservation Trust English churches dedicated to St Margaret of Antioch

See also

References