St Edmund Wiltshire, England

07519

St Edmund

Bedwin Street

Salisbury

Wiltshire

England

A collegiate church on this site was founded in 1269 by Bishop de la Wyle and dedicated to Saint Edmund of Abingdon, the former Archbishop of Canterbury who had been canonised in 1246. At first there were to be a provost and thirteen priests, but the income of the college (some coming from charter fairs) was not adequate to support that number; the full complement was in place in the middle of the next century, after the grant of income from Whiteparish, Winterbourne Earls and Winterborne St Martin. In the 15th century the college was again in financial difficulty, and like others it was surrendered to Henry VIII in the 1540s. The 13th-century church was rebuilt in the early 15th century, cruciform in plan with a central tower. In 1653 the tower collapsed, severely damaging the nave to its west. The tower was rebuilt, the nave demolished and the 15th-century chancel converted to a nave. A small chancel was added at the east end in the 1840s, and restoration in 1865–67 by Sir George Gilbert Scott included enlargement of the chancel. The church was designated as Grade II* listed in 1952. After it was declared redundant in 1974 it was converted for use by the Salisbury Arts Centre in 1975. In 2005, buildings containing offices and workshops were added to the north. The headstones now became pavement slabbing around the church and lots of them are badly worn, no writing at all.