WILTSHIRE MAGAZINE, 
“ MULTORUM MANIBUS GRANDE LEVATUR ONUS.’— Ovid. 
Alotes on the Church of St. Wary the Girgia, 
Bishops Cannings. 
GENERAL description of this Church was given in this 
Magazine a quarter of a century ago, by Archdeacon 
Macdonald, in his able “ Historical Memoirs of the Parish of Bishops 
Cannings” (vol. vi., p. 121), since which time it has received little 
notice in these pages. The object of the present paper is to supple- 
ment the information there given by a few notes on points of detail 
which have not, I think, been hitherto touched upon, and on other 
features of fresh interest, which have been opened out during the 
recent restoration. 
Archdeacon Macdonald states that the manor of Bishops Can- 
nings belonged to the Bishops of Salisbury from time immemorial. 
Bishop Roger (1102—11389) was deprived of the episcopal estates 
by King Stephen, from whom they were wrested by the Empress 
Matilda, who, by deed in 1148, promised the restitution of them. 
This was confirmed by a second deed, dated 13th April, 1149, and 
fully carried out in 1157. There is little doubt, I think, that upon 
recovering the estates the Bishop at once set to work to build the 
present Church, the earliest parts of which date from that period. 
The work, apparently, proceeded slowly, and the style of architecture 
changed during its progress. The Church of that time had at 
least chancel, nave, and aisles, on the site of those now existing. 
There was, therefore, probably a tower between the two former, but 
there is no indication of transepts of that date, and as the archways 
into those now existing are later insertions, I conclude there were 
none. Probably the tower was either taken down or fell at about 
_ the time of the erection of the present transepts. 
r VOL, XXIII.—-NO. LXVII. B 
