St Aldhelm's Roman Catholic Church, Malmesbury

St Aldhelm’s Roman Catholic Church stands on the edge of Cross Hayes, the old market square in Malmesbury, Wiltshire. Built in 1875 in 14th-century Gothic style, it is made of uncoursed stone with ashlar dressings and presents a west front to the car park. A large two-light trefoil-headed window sits between two plain lancets. The attached presbytery is a Grade II listed building that once housed a 19th-century stable with a later limestone-rubble extension. The church matters because it was founded in 1875 by Father François Larive MSFS, the Missionary of St Francis de Sales’ first resident priest in England. His plans came from Captain Charles Goddard Dewell, a local convert who met Larive in India in 1858. After delays, the present church opened on 1 July 1875 and was dedicated to St Aldhelm, the town’s patron and first abbot of Malmesbury Abbey. In 2022 a stained-glass window to Blessed Carlo Acutis was installed, drawing more visitors since his canonisation was announced in May 2024. Inside, the nave leads to a sanctuary lit by the new Acutis window. The Grade II listed presbytery lies immediately south of the courtyard, while plans for a new parish hall north of the church were approved in April 2024. The old temporary church site became St Joseph’s Primary School until 1933. The Missionaries of St Francis de Sales have served the parish without interruption since 1875.