St Mary's Church, Old Dilton

Church with a curious spire near the White Horse

The fourteenth-century St Mary's lies down a pretty wooded lane near the river Biss, on one of the many walking paths to the Westbury White Horse.

This delightful little church is approached through a railway arch that opens out onto a simple churchyard, revealing an unusual church - squat yet pretty, with a tiny stone spire like an inverted ice cream cone.

Inside, little has changed since the eighteenth century and is crowded with plain, bleached box pews, some built on the original Medieval benches, a three-decker pulpit, family pews and two small galleries. The gallery north of the chancel was once used as a schoolroom and contains a fireplace.

Please click here for a free audio guided tour

St Mary's church features in our Wiltshire Medieval Graffiti Tour on Google Earth. 

Please make a contribution towards it's upkeep. Text the code ODN to 70970 to donate £5 or 70191 to donate £10.

Approached from a sharp bend in the lane with little parking available. Through gate and along uneven paved stones in churchyard to two south doors, one with a porch (SW corner). Access is via 2 steps down through wide south porch and very uneven nave flooring.

Further door by gate in NE corner is not connected to the nave but leads directly to wooden staircase to gallery above vestry.

Please note that there is no electricity at St Mary's Church. Please visit in daylight hours. 

There are no toilets on site.

Why not make your visit more enjoyable and informed by finding out more about this church before you visit? You can download a range of publications below including the relevant county guide, and any walk round guides we have for this church.

Please click here for a free audio tour of the church. 

St Mary's church features in our Wiltshire Medieval Graffiti Tour on Google Earth. 

Wiltshire Guide

This free of charge short guide contains details of all the churches we care for in Wiltshire. Printed copies of the county guide are also available at the church.

Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary Old Dilton Guide

3 miles north of Warminster, off A350

Nearest railway station: Dilton Marsh (1.6 miles)

St Mary's costs £4,706 a year to maintain and open to the public.      

The church needs £28,000 spending urgently on the maintenance listed below.               

• Wall painting repairs                                                                                       £20,000.00
   
• Leaking roof in school room                                                                           £4,500.00
   
• Fencing repairs                                                                                               £3,500.00

It also has the following short term conservation repair liability: 
 

Re roof both sides of valley (stone slates)                                                      £99,577.00     

Please make a contribution towards it's upkeep. Text the code ODN to 70970 to donate £5 or 70191 to donate £10.

Old Dilton Church Plan April 2023

Click here to download a copy of the Church Plan which sets out the shared vision for the future of the church. This is a working document that will be updated on a regular basis. If you have any feedback or if you want to contact us about the church plan please drop us a line. When you write, please do give the name of the church, thank you!

All our Wiltshire churches are in our West region.

Useful local links

• Visit Wiltshire website
• Wiltshire Family History Society
• Wiltshire Archaeological & Natural History Society
• Diocese of Salisbury

St Mary's is part of the White Horse Benefice. You can find out more about them and the other churches in the area by visiting: http://whtministry.org.uk/