Historic Wiltshire buildings we’re at risk of losing forever

Historic places of worship, ruins or old structures, can be costly to maintain. Some sites have been allowed to fall into disrepair through the years and left vulnerable to vandals.

But the sites are deemed by the public body as being worthy of preservation for future generations, mainly because they have been marked as important to Wiltshire's heritage.

Here are some of them.

Trowbridge 

Courtfield house

Courtfield House is a clothier's house built c1754 with an earlier C17 building to rear. The house was used as a preparatory school which closed in April 2012.

Adjoining the house is a relatively unaltered wool store. The roof structure of the house is in poor condition with a collapsing valley gutter.

The property is currently vacant and subject to vandalism.

Devizes

In Devizes, the law courts and police station from 1835 has been described as being in ‘very bad’ condition.

It has had several schemes which have been granted consent, including residential and nightclub use, but they have yet to be implemented.

Melksham

Church of St Andrew, Church Lane, Melksham

The Early English style Church of England parish church, 1876 by Charles Adye features a decorative tiled roof with coped verges, cross finials and cresting.  

The clay tiled roofs and rainwater goods to the nave and chancel have been identified as being in poor condition.

In 2017, a scheme was drawn up to redevelop the modern extension to provide community use as part of the church. 

Westbury

Phipps Mausoleum in Westbury cemetery by David Lovell

The late C19 privately owned mausoleum stands within municipal cemetery.

The building is currently disused and continues to deteriorate according to Histoic England. 

It is also the subject of on-going vandalism, but has been secured against break-ins.

Calne

In Calne, the Church of St Peter, has been considered a staple to the area for a long time, as it was altered and extended 1859 and restored 1907 by CE Ponting.

The church has been identified as being at immediate risk of further rapid deterioration if the structure is not repaired quickly.

The long list of 'at risk' historic structures

• The moated site and fishponds south east of Rowden Farm, Motte
• Bailey Castle 600 metres north of Castle Combe
• Church of St Anne, Bowden Hill
• Church of St Andrew, Church Lane in Chippenham
• Buildings to the rear of the Lansdowne Arms Hotel
• The Strand in Calne
• Devizes Castle
• The Red House at Eastwell Manor, Eastwell Road
• Former hangars at Yatesbury Airfield 
• The Chapel at Knowle House
• Tottenham House
• Savernake Forest
• Stable block to Tottenham House
• A causewayed enclosure, the core of a round barrow cemetery, part of a prehistoric field system and an associated mortuary enclosure on Windmill Hill
• West Kennett Farm palisaded enclosures
• The Black Field Roman site in and around Marlborough 
• The Courtfield House, Polebarn Road in Trowbridge 
• Phipps Mausoleum, Westbury Cemetery, Bratton Road 
• Motte and double ringwork east of Bishopstrow Farm and Enclosure
• Linear earthworks between Bishopstrow Down and South Down Sleight
• Christ Church, Christchurch Street West, Frome
• Drying house at The Coach House, Willow Vale in Frome
• Rudloe Manor in Corsham
• Town Defences in Malmesbury

Find out what other sites are at risk in your area here.