page_title: Steeple Ashton
section_title: Parish church
hierarchical_section_title: Steeple Ashton / Religious sites / Parish church
caption_attribution_description: The Church In Steeple Ashton
context_page_description: Steeple Ashton is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, 3 miles east of Trowbridge.
  In the north of the parish are the hamlets of Ashton Common and Bullenhill.
context_section_description: Historic England describe the parish church of St Mary as "One of the finest Perpendicular churches in the country, its wealth coming from Steeple Ashton's woollen industry." Pevsner writes that the church "fairly bristles with pinnacles – a gay and fantastical sight".
  There was already a longstanding church at Steeple Ashton in 1252, held by Romsey Abbey, a link which remained in place until the dissolution. The present church, in limestone ashlar with a four-stage west tower, is a rebuilding in the late 15th century; the north aisle at the cost of Robert Long (d. 1501) and the south at the cost of Walter Lucas (d. 1495), both clothiers. The tower – which may have been built in the early 15th century – was surmounted by a stone spire, 93 feet (28 m) high, making a total height of about 186 feet (57 m), the second highest in Wiltshire after Salisbury Cathedral. The spire was struck by lightning in July 1670, repaired, then struck again in October, damaging the nave and aisles as it fell; it was not replaced. The chancel of the pre-15th century church was retained until it was rebuilt in 1853, taller and slightly longer, by Henry Clutton.
  On the south side of the tower is a 19th-century clock face, driven by an earlier clock, which may be the one recorded in 1543. All six bells were recast in 1959.
  Inside, the nave has an unusual wooded lierne vault roof, although its supports indicate an intention to build in stone, as was done in the aisle roofs. Fittings, including the font, are from the 19th century. Windows of the aisles and Lady Chapel incorporate fragments of medieval glass, from windows said to have been broken in the Civil War.
caption: Church of St Mary the Virgin
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