Wilton
Wilton has two Church of England churches. One right in the centre of the town, beside the market place.
St Mary's, the old church. 15th century. Partially demolished, apart from the chancel and one bay of the nave, when a new church was completed in 1845.
The new church:
St Mary & St Nicholas. Built "between 1841 and 1844 at the instigation of the Countess Alexina Sophia Gallot of Pembroke Dowager Countess of Pembroke (née Ekaterina Semyonovna Vorontsov, daughter of the Russian ambassador to Britain), and her younger son, Baron Sidney Herbert of Lea, designed by the architect Thomas Henry Wyatt in the Romanesque style, with considerable Byzantine influences. For a small town, the church is enormous, representing the wealth of its benefactors." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilton,_Wiltshire
In fact, the campanile - how often do I get to use the word campanile when looking at English churches? - is so tall that I was unable to use Photoshop to correct for lens distortion without making the tower look bendy. Though possibly it is a bit bendy...
Wilton is home to Wilton House, one of the grandest houses in England, home of the Earls of Pembroke for over 400 years, and still occupied by the current Earl of Pembroke. (I didn't photograph it on this visit - it's not open to the public in winter).
The village itself has some wonderful old cottages, often with alleyways between them. But I couldn't get any decent photographs because Wilton is a suburb of Salisbury and the city traffic is a nightmare. There are cars parked everywhere, and there is a constant stream of cars passing nose-to-tail down every street.
Through the arch of old St Mary's, a view of Monty & Mabel's Dog Friendly Coffee Lounge. It was rather trendy for my tastes and I can't say I felt very relaxed there. But the tea and cake was very nice, and everyone made a fuss of Max.
Tea, in an enormous dribbly novelty teapot that I could scarcely lift unaided.
St Mary's, the old church. 15th century. Partially demolished, apart from the chancel and one bay of the nave, when a new church was completed in 1845.
The new church:
St Mary & St Nicholas. Built "between 1841 and 1844 at the instigation of the Countess Alexina Sophia Gallot of Pembroke Dowager Countess of Pembroke (née Ekaterina Semyonovna Vorontsov, daughter of the Russian ambassador to Britain), and her younger son, Baron Sidney Herbert of Lea, designed by the architect Thomas Henry Wyatt in the Romanesque style, with considerable Byzantine influences. For a small town, the church is enormous, representing the wealth of its benefactors." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilton,_Wiltshire
In fact, the campanile - how often do I get to use the word campanile when looking at English churches? - is so tall that I was unable to use Photoshop to correct for lens distortion without making the tower look bendy. Though possibly it is a bit bendy...
Wilton is home to Wilton House, one of the grandest houses in England, home of the Earls of Pembroke for over 400 years, and still occupied by the current Earl of Pembroke. (I didn't photograph it on this visit - it's not open to the public in winter).
The village itself has some wonderful old cottages, often with alleyways between them. But I couldn't get any decent photographs because Wilton is a suburb of Salisbury and the city traffic is a nightmare. There are cars parked everywhere, and there is a constant stream of cars passing nose-to-tail down every street.
Through the arch of old St Mary's, a view of Monty & Mabel's Dog Friendly Coffee Lounge. It was rather trendy for my tastes and I can't say I felt very relaxed there. But the tea and cake was very nice, and everyone made a fuss of Max.
Tea, in an enormous dribbly novelty teapot that I could scarcely lift unaided.