It is difficult to unravel the early days of the monastery at Malmesbury. The most important figure from this period is St. Aldhelm who died c. 710 CE and was recognised as a scholar and leading church figure.
William of Malmesbury writing in the 12th century explains that Malmesbury was established by an Irish missionary called Maeldub or Meildulf. Although doubts have been raised about this story there is evidence to suggest that a religious community at Malmesbury was founded by an Irish monk with a similar name and he may have been Aldhelm’s teacher.
Aldhelm became Abbot around 675 CE. There is no trace above ground of Aldhelm’s monastery, a graphic film reconstruction of the precinct on ExploreMalmesbury gives an idea of what it may have looked like. The general layout of 7th century Saxon churches was a simple rectangular structure with the altar at the east end.
We learn from William of Malmsbury that a small church reputed to have been built by Maeldub existed at the time of his writing.
The main church was dedicated to St. Peter and St. Paul and William describes it as “larger and fairer than any old church that was seen anywhere in England”. This church survived until after the Norman Conquest when it was replaced by the present 12th century Abbey.
Aldhelm built a second church dedicated to St. Mary, consistent with other contemporary monastic campus layouts. King Athelstan may have been buried in St. Mary’s in 939 CE.
There was also a small church dedicated to St. Michael, probably a mortuary chapel. William tells that Aldhelm was initially buried in St. Michaels and lay here until the mid 10th century when his shrine was moved to the church of St. Mary.
Two further churches are also recorded, one dedicated to St Andrew and another to St Lawrence. It is possible that they were laid out in a linear formation, as at St Augustine’s Abbey in Canterbury. All these churches are believed to have been on site of the present abbey and churchyard. On the south side of the churchyard lies St. Paul’s (below). Although only vestiges of the building plus the 14th century steeple remain the layout suggests a Saxon origin
No evidence for the location or remains of any of these Anglo-Saxon buildings has ever been established through archaeological investigation. However in 2018 Malmesbury History Society commissioned a Ground Penetrating Radar survey to see if any traces of the earlier buildings survive..
There is an early Saxon church, now a private dwelling in Bristol Street (right), which was identified by John Bowen. It is small but well built to have lasted at least 1200 years. ExploreMalmesbury have produced a short video exploring the building.
To the north of the town at Whitchurch Farm, incorporated into the farmhouse are the remains of St James, originally built before the conquest. (Whitchurch is taken to mean White Church; the Cotswold stone would have contrasted with the older wooden ones)
Finally and intriguingly is one of the buildings partially excavated by John Hinchcliffe on the north of the Malmesbury – Foxley Road. This is a Saxon site, a complex of large and substantial structures. The modern road has a kink to avoid the site, suggesting there has been a track for 1200 years or more. One of these structures, the one to the east, has a semi-circular wall on the eastern side. Was this an apse? Is this the remains of an extremely early Christian church?
St Paul’s Church
All that remains today of St Paul’s church is the spire. There was a church here in Saxon times but nothing of that remains. It is thought that the present church was built around 1300AD and the spire added about 100 years later; less than 250 years later the nave of the church was ‘ruinous’ and Stumpe, who had bought the Abbey extensive estates from the crown for £1516 15s 21/2d, gave the abbey nave to the town as a parish church and the license to use it as such was granted in 1541.
Remains of the south wall of the chancel have been incorporated into other buildings and this can be seen clearly from Birdcage Walk.
The spire houses 8 bells for the Abbey even though in early times it was in a different parish. The oldest is the treble, sixteenth century or even older; the youngest three were added in the 1959s when the rest were retuned
The clock, which only has two faces, was made by Henry Weight, a local clock maker, in 1858. The clock almost certainly was bought in kit form and he assembled it. The mechanical drive was replaced by an electric motor in 1952 and the works lay neglected until the museum with the aid of RAF Hullavington restored them. Unfortunately lack of room in the museum means they cannot be displayed there but they can be seen by appointment in the bell tower. For more details see the booklet “Telling the time for Malmesbury” available in our shop.
Over the centuries the ground level has risen and so you now have to step down through an ancient doorway with a very low lintel to enter the bell tower.
Old St Mary’s Church, Westport
Described by John Aubrey as “a prettie church, where there were very good windows and a fair steeple, higher than the others”. (St. Pauls).
It was reported to have been more ancient than the Abbey but was pulled down during the Civil War to prevent troops sheltering there against the garrison of Malmesbury. Opposite is a sketch map drawn by John Aubrey with old St. Mary’s shown at the head of the triangle. The replacement church was built in 1680.
A highlight of Malmesbury is of course the Abbey.