St Mary's Church, Wilton

The former shrine of St Edith finds a faint echo in a little town church, this holy landscape visited by the St Edith of Wilton Way – though all traces of her abbey itself have gone

‍Highlights

• ‍‍Former shrine and abbey of St Edith

Not a scrap of Wilton Abbey survives – neither the original building where St Edith of Wilton served, nor its later medieval replacement. But there is a church in the centre of town that was associated with the community.

St Mary’s Old Church is redundant and mostly a ruin – only the chancel is still intact, a little chapel in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust. It is open daily. The church was built by the abbey in the 15th century to serve the parish. It fell into disuse after a new parish church was built in 1845. It has no direct connection to St Edith herself.

St Edith is more easily remembered at the town of her birth, Kemsing in Kent. Her mother was abbess of Wilton, dragged out of the community by King Edgar who wanted to marry her. Both mother and daughter returned to Wilton, where St Edith died in 984 aged just 23, having refused promotion to abbess on a number of occasions. The site of the original abbey is under Wilton House, a stately home to the southeast of Wilton that is open to the public. St Edith was buried in the abbey’s church, which was consecrated by St Dunstan and dedicated to St Denis. Her tomb became a shrine famous for miracles. Though obliterated at the Reformation, her relics perhaps lie somewhere in the extensive and attractive gardens.

Directions‍

St Mary’s Church, Market Place, Wilton, Salisbury SP2 0HA

www.visitchurches.org.uk (search for Wilton)

W3W: fever.hogs.villager

GPS: 51.0803N 1.8630W‍

Wilton House, Wilton, Salisbury SP2 0BJ

www.wiltonhouse.com‍

The church is next to the town-centre car park, the ruins and little chapel obvious from the road. Wilton House has a range of opening times depending on the season. Tickets for the grounds only are £6.50 adults, £6 concessions, £5 children.