Great Wishford
Saint Giles, the Church of Wishford Magna
(within the Lower Wylye and Till Valley Parish)
Patron Saint Day
September 1st - St Giles
Address
St Giles, Great Wishford, Salisbury, SP2 0PH
Churchwarden
Jamie Melville - contact through Rector please 01722 790616
Service Times / Types
Routinely Two services per month:
1st Sunday 1800h Evening Worship.
2nd Sunday 0930h Holy Communion.
History of the Church
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Earliest records - a chapel in Wishford as early as 1208.
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17 Aug 1863 Faculty granted for Church rebuild by the well-known architect, T.H.Wyatt for £1500.
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Three light East-window above the altar given by a CW, Robert Saunders who died in 1860 after 61 years as Churchwarden (CW).
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Organ was purchased second hand for £105 in 1855
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A plate in the porch commemorates the founding of the School in 1722 with an endowment for 20 poor boys and 20 girls by Sir Richard Howe along with the Almshouses.
About Great Wishford
Great Wishford’s Church, St Giles is a fine example of a 13th century church though much restored in the mid-19th century architect TH Wyatt. It is at the centre of this lovely village with a population of around 370 people and co-located with the Church of England VA Primary School which has a long established and thriving relationship with the church. School services held in the church are Remembrance Day and Mothering Sunday, Easter, Harvest, and end of term reflections on the Christian value for that term. In-school services include Christingle, Posada and the popular Open the Book weekly Collective Worship led by Church volunteers.
The village has a pub (The Royal Oak) and a shared Village Hall (situated in the Parish of South Newton at Stoford). The village retains ancient rights to collect fallen wood from Grovely Forest, part of the Earl of Pembroke’s estate. To secure these rights villagers have to claim them in the Cathedral each year, part of the celebrations of ‘Oak Apple Day’, traditionally held on 29th May each year, which include a village fete.
A successful weekly Café in the Church is held at St Giles’ that brings together church members, villagers, parents and children from the school and the occasional inquisitive and hungry passer-by! Many church members and other villagers, volunteer to bake and donate cakes and run the Café.