The Parish Church of St Margaret of Antioch

St Margaret’s (Church of England) Church welcomes all, and we are fortunate that the building is open almost every day of the year during daylight hours. We meet for worship every Sunday at 11am, usually alternating between a communion service (Common Worship or Book of Common Prayer) and Morning Prayer. All ages are welcome to all our services, but the first Sunday of the month is usually a Family Service, with readings, a talk and sometimes an activity that might especially appeal to younger worshippers. We are fortunate to have an excellent voluntary choir, which rehearses on Wednesday evenings, and sings an anthem on Sunday, and for occasional special services, such as the annual Christmas Eve Carol Service, and Sung Compline for feasts such as All Souls’. We have always been noted for our hospitality, and are particularly glad now to be able to serve refreshments after services and on other occasions from the kitchen in our new North Porch extension.
We welcome enquiries about baptisms and weddings and are glad to conduct funerals for those resident in the parish, or with a significant family connection. Please contact us by email in the first instance for further information: 
The parish is part of the Three Rivers Group, within the Diocese of Ely. Our website offers further information about worship and other activities at St Margaret’s and in our other churches (Fordham, Isleham, Kennett & Snailwell).
The parishes are currently in vacancy until a new Rector is appointed, and ministry is being provided in the meantime by the Revd Anna Jones (Assistant Curate), who can be contacted via email as above, or by phone (07751 032166). Our churchwardens are Peter Maxwell and Paul Mangell, whose contact details are available in the church porch.

History

Chippenham has a lovely church – St Margarets. The church building dates back to the 13th Century and included a chapel used by the Knights Hospitallers. The Knights Hospitallers were an order of Knights founded in the 12th Century to help sick pilgrims going to the Holy Land. Chippenham was an important site for the them and they had one of their preceptories here, with an infirmary, hall, chapel, etc. Sadly, these buildings no longer survive, but parts of the cellars are believed to remain below the Georgian School House which is nearly opposite the church. Parts of the Norman church are still visible and you can see the outlines of early windows in the North part of the choir and behind the main altar.

After a disastrous fire in 1446, much of the church was rebuilt. The South porch dates from this time, as well as some of the poppy-headed pews. The aisle and clerestory windows were rebuilt in Perpendicular style after the fire. The wall-paintings are also 15th Century.

On March 23rd 1643, during the purges by Puritans, the church was visited by William Dowsing who destroyed the stained glass windows and covered the frescoes with whitewash. Internal alterations during the 17th Century included the addition of a gallery across the West (Tower) end of the aisle, since demolished.

Further major restoration was carried out in the 19th century. In 1885 the chancel was rebuilt, a new East window installed and the floor tiled. The choir-stalls date from this restoration. The nave was restored in 1893, including replacement of the pillars along the South side (the North pillars are original). The font also dates from 1893.

In the 20th century, the Tharp Chapel in the North aisle was constructed by the Tharp family. It was dedicated by the Bishop of Ely in 1948. The inscription round the chapel walls records the memory of John Tharp, killed in Algiers in 1943.

Cleaning and restoration of the wall-paintings began in the 1970s. A rough patch of the North wall in the Tharp Chapel shows where one of the wall-paintings once hung. This was a large figure of St. Michael which had been carefully restored and was in the process of being replaced when it accidentally fell and smashed into pieces.

The church tower was restored in 1994, when the old stucco-work was removed and replaced with a fine honey-coloured finish. The tower itself is a mixture of clunch, flint and pebble rubble, there being no hard local stone available nearby.