St Andrew’s Church, Chippenham

St Andrew’s is the parish church of Chippenham, standing on the Market Place in the middle of the town. It is Grade II* listed. There has been a church on the site since Anglo-Saxon times, and the present stone building has a Norman core, with the chancel, nave and south aisle built first. The west tower was added around the start of the 14th century.

In 1442 Walter, Lord Hungerford, paid for the rebuilding of the south chancel chapel and the upper tower and spire. The tower and spire were taken down and rebuilt by 1633, 15 feet shorter than before. The biggest change came in 1875–78, when John and Richard Darley restored the church, extended the chancel eastwards by 20 feet and added a new chancel arch, a clerestory, the north aisle and an organ chamber. Much of the stained glass dates from around this restoration and the years after it.

Church tower and spire seen from the market place, Chippenham
The tower and spire of the parish church from the Market Place.

Key facts

  • Town: Chippenham
  • County: Wiltshire
  • Listing: Grade II*, listed 1950
  • Building: Norman origins, enlarged in the 14th and 15th centuries and restored 1875–78
  • Glass: mainly Victorian and Edwardian stained glass, with some earlier fragments
  • Photographed: July 2026

The stained glass

The church’s own history lists windows by several well known makers. Burlison and Grylls glazed the baptistry east window, which shows St Katherine, Christ with children and St Nicholas, and a window in the north aisle dated 1882. Lavers and Westlake made a Jesse window in the Lady Chapel, windows in the north aisle and chancel dated 1900 and 1903, and further windows in the south aisle. A window in the baptistry by Christopher Whall remembers three brothers of the Wilson family killed in the First World War and shows four archangels and war scenes. The chancel east window, in the Perpendicular style, was put in in 1878 and shows Christ in glory surrounded by angels, saints, prophets and martyrs.

Not every window in the photographs below has been matched to a maker yet, so the captions describe what you can see rather than naming the firm.

Windows

The church inside

Side chapel with two stained glass windows and an altar, Chippenham
A side chapel with two stained glass windows above the altar.
Nave arcade and aisle windows looking east, Chippenham
Looking east along the nave arcade, with aisle windows beyond.
Nave and south aisle windows seen from the arcade, Chippenham
Windows in the south aisle seen between the arches.

Baptistry

Three-light church window with a crowned figure, Christ and a bishop, Chippenham
The baptistry east window: a crowned St Katherine, Christ with children and St Nicholas. Glazed in 1907, by Burlison and Grylls according to the church history.
Four-light church window with figures above a war scene and heraldic badges, Chippenham
The Wilson window in the baptistry, by Christopher Whall, remembers three brothers killed in the First World War. Regimental badges run along the bottom.

Chancel and Lady Chapel

Five-light Perpendicular church window with tiers of stained glass figures, Chippenham
A five-light Perpendicular window with tiers of figures, probably the chancel east window of 1878.
Five-light church window with seated figures and a lit candelabrum in front, Chippenham
A five-light window with seated figures, probably the Jesse window in the Lady Chapel by Lavers and Westlake, 1900.
Three-light church window with a wooden cross in the foreground, Chippenham
Memorial window to Sir Gabriel Goldney, dated 1903, by Lavers and Westlake.

Aisle windows

Four-light church window with standing saints above small scenes, Chippenham
Four lights of standing saints above scenes of charity, probably the north aisle window by Burlison and Grylls, 1882.
Four-light church window with small narrative scenes, Chippenham
Four lights with scenes from the childhood of Christ, a south aisle window by Lavers and Westlake.
Four-light Gothic church window with stained glass figure panels above a brass plaque, Chippenham
A four-light window with figure panels and a brass memorial plaque beneath.
Three-light church window with three armoured saints, Chippenham
Three armoured saints above regimental shields, a war memorial window.
Narrow lancet window with coloured stained glass, Chippenham
A narrow lancet with coloured glass.
Clear leaded window with diamond quarries seen from inside a church, Chippenham
Clear leaded glass with diamond quarries, seen from inside.

Outside

Outside of a church window with diamond quarries and stone tracery, Chippenham
The outside of a window with diamond quarries and stone tracery.

In the same area

See all ecclesiastical stained glass photographs, or read about how ecclesiastical stained glass is made and dated. To make sense of the figures, saints and symbols in these windows, see how to read a church window.

Sources

St Andrew’s Church, Chippenham: church history page. Historic England list entry 1268018 (Grade II*). Wiltshire Community History.