St Mary's Church in Old Dilton is a squat yet pretty fourteenth century Wiltshire church with a tiny stone spire. The church is set in a lovely wooded lane near the river Biss, on a walking path to the Westbury White Horse landmark. The interior has hardly changed since the eighteenth century with its plain, bleached box pews and double decker pulpit. Two small galleries overlook the nave and chancel. The charming northern gallery, with its own fireplace and separate entrance door, was used as a school room.  

 

Sadly, in October 2022 Belinda Bishop, a local church supporter, discovered that the beautifully crafted leaded windows in the school room had fallen victim to heritage crime. Having withstood the tests of time, shedding light on generations of children and parishioners, the windows were vandalised, leaving the leadwork bent out of shape and many of the glass panes smashed or cracked. 

 

Belinda told CCT that she discovered the damage whilst carrying out a site inspection. She found the room in a bad state with splinters of glass everywhere and a hole in the beams due to water ingress from a previous lead theft from the roof. “It was terribly sad to find the school room in such an awful state. Especially as we were still getting over the damage to the buttress on the east wall, which was damaged by impact from a huge tractor tyre which appeared to have been rolled down the hill.” Belinda and her family work with another family in the village to look after St Mary’s and arrange the very popular annual Carol Service, which is a highlight of the local calendar. Members of the community read the lessons and festivities continue after the service with mulled wine and marshmallows. The service is planned for 15th December this year.  

 

James Routledge, the CCT Estates Officer looking after Wiltshire churches, estimates that the window repairs will be well in excess of £3,000 and that the window may need to be replaced if the leadwork is too badly damaged.  

 

Heritage crime is a constant threat to the churches in our care, as St Mary’s in Old Dilton is not the only church that has had costly damage caused to its windows in recent times.  For instance, Church of St Michael and All Angel in Princetown, Devon, and St Deny’s Church in Little Barford, Bedfordshire, have resulted in thousands of pounds of unexpected repairs for our charity because of senseless vandalism.