St Mary's Church, Purton

Malmesbury Abbey may have built a church on its Purton estate before the Norman Conquest, although no church is recorded in the Domesday survey of 1086. A church at Purton was listed among the abbey's possessions in 1151, and was appropriated by the abbey in 1276; at that time a vicarage had recently been built. The nave was built in the early 13th century, and in the next century the crossing tower, transepts and south-east chapel were added and the arcades rebuilt, wider and higher, making the nave unusually tall. The chancel dates from the late 13th century. The west tower, called "ambitious" by Pevsner, is 15th-century; the upper stage and slender octagonal spire over the crossing may…

The church is constructed of coursed rubble limestone, with roofs of slate and lead. Its plan consists of a three-bay nave with aisles, a tower to the west and a transept. Above the crossing is a steeple. There is a chancel, and a porch to the south with an upper storey heated by a fireplace. The west tower, which has the entrance to the church, has angled buttresses and three stages; the upper stage has three-light belfry louvres, with perforated stone screens. The tower has crocketed pinnacles at its corners and a stair turret to the north corner. There are a number of niches, and in 1973 figures by Simon Verity were installed in niches on the north and south sides. The central steeple…