THE 



WILTSHIRE MAGAZINE. 



"multobttm manibtjs gbande levatue onus."— Ovid. 



fjfoto on % C|wtj[ of Sit |gtotg % fflxttfxt, 

 §is|o|s Cannings. 



By Mr. C. £. Ponting. 

 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— • 1139) 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. 



VOL. XXin.— NO. LXVII. B 



