Tower and Town, August 2020 (view the full edition)St Katharine’s, Savernake
We expect churches and schools in centres of population, in a village, at least, but there was a feeling in the religious revival of the 19th century that besides places for the great landed families to worship in – and Tottenham House, the seat of the Brudenell-Bruces, is only a mile or so across the fields here – there should be provision for the estate workers, too. It is heartening in our time of dwindling church attendance and falling numbers in rural primary schools that both church and school at Savernake are flourishing, with nearly 100 pupils at the school, for instance. A sign off the Durley road points to the church, with its prominent spire. In the spring and summer sun there is greenery all around and there are magnificent mature cedars in the churchyard, shadowing the graves of the Victorian Brudenell-Bruces. I know of no other church where the boundary wall is hidden in a ‘ha-ha’ to give you a clear view of the building and its surrounds.
Look at the stonework and the carving of the details on the windows outside; inside, look at the amazing screens that flank the nave, at the brilliant marble and again at the quality of the carving; and note that the builder and the mason were local men. Look at the wonderful Minton tilework and at the stained glass windows in the apse. There is an extraordinary memorial to the Marchioness of Ailesbury, designed in the 1890’s by Sir Alfred Gilbert, famous for ‘Eros’ in Piccadilly. The delicate figure of the lady behind the screen of foliage that she is holding is thought to be another Mary, the Virgin herself. We are lucky to have a church at all. Savernake Forest held dumps for captured German ammunition at the end of the 2nd World War and one of these on the southern fringe exploded in July 1945. Although a mile away the explosion did such serious damage to the fabric of the church, especially to its northern flank, as well as to most of its stained glass that the demolition of the whole of the nave was proposed. Local feeling was so strong that this was successfully resisted and after restoration the church was reopened in 1952. Rightly, the visitor will say. And from June it has been open again during the day for private visits.  John Osborne |
At the southern end of Savernake Forest there is one the loveliest ensembles of trees, meadows and buildings in our neighbourhood. This is St Katharine’s church with the local primary school just one field away across the churchyard; and with one or two houses nearby, it seems that little has changed from the time 150 years ago when this small group was established. 
The proportions of the church are striking but the details of the materials and the workmanship are outstanding and show that no expense was spared. The architect was TH Wyatt, who was employed by the Diocese of Salisbury on a large number of ecclesiastical projects in the middle of the 19th century, including the church at Cadley, which was made redundant and converted into a private house a generation ago. More importantly, Wyatt had built the fabulous church at Wilton, completed in 1843 with the backing and inspiration of the Herberts of Wilton House; and it was the Dowager Countess of Pembroke, the Russian Katarina Voronzova, whose daughter, Mary, became the 2nd Marchioness of Ailesbury, who provided the funds for Savernake. The Dowager Countess died in 1855 and her daughter had the completed church dedicated in her mother’s name in 1861.