Malmesbury Abbey

- St Paul's Tower

There are many instances of detached bell towers in the British Isles, but Malmesbury is unusual in that the bell tower was once part of a different church - St. Paul's - the original parish church..

The 120 ft. tower and broach spire is all that now remains standing of the 13th Century Church of St. Paul, found at the S.W. corner of the Abbey churchyard. (A floor plan of the original church is shown at the foot of the page overleaf.) On 20th August 1541, Archbishop Cranmer granted a license to convert the nave of Malmesbury Abbey into a parish church because, "The parish church of St. Paul of Malmesbury is fallen, even unto the ground, and is not fit to receive the people for divine service".

The Abbey in its original state may have had up to twelve bells in a central tower. Aubrey (1685) relates that there was a great (Bourdon) bell at Malmesbury Abbey dedicated as St. Aldhelm's bell - "which was rung when it did thunder and lighten to send the Tempest from the Town into the Country". The central tower of the Abbey fell in a great storm in 1497! The bells and masonry destroyed the eastern part of the Abbey including choir and transepts. A "temporary wall" was built to support the eastern end of the Nave.

Bells were later to be found in the western tower of the Abbey, and it is rumoured that in 1660 the bellringers "fired" the bells in honour of the restoration of the King. (Firing of bells is the act of causing all the bells to swing and ring at the same time so that they sound as one). This can cause excessive strain on the tower and supporting structures, and is thought to be the cause of the collapse of the western tower. Today, bells are sometimes fired at midnight on New Years Eve, but only if the structural strength of the tower permits.

The Abbey bellringers later settled in the tower of St. Paul's church and over the next two centuries a ring of five bells was established.

Descriptions of the Church of St. Paul:

1544 Leland

"The body of the old paroch church, standing in the West End of the Church Yard, is clere taken down. The East End is converted in avlam civicum. The fair square tour in the West ende is kept for a dwelling house".

Oct. 1 1673 Aubrey

"The church, long since decayed, standing where the steeple is in the churchyard, was the Parish Church of Malmesbury, dedicated to St. Paul."

1853 Rev. Jackson

"All that remains of St. Paul's Church in l852 was taken down, except the tower and spire which are left standing. The materials were sold by the church-wardens and the site appropriated for burial. The building had for a long time desecrated as a receptacle for lumber. It did not stand in an even line with the tower, and might have been taken for an aisle of the original church, but for Leland's statement that it had been the East End".

In 1662, the Act of Uniformity was intended to compel all clergymen and ministers to give their assent and consent to the Book of Common Prayer (some 2,000 men gave up their livings rather than acquiesce in what was against their conscience).

The Rev. Simon Gowen, the then Vicar of St. Paul's Church having heard of the passing of the Act, and feeling its demands were unjust, saw no course open to him save to leave his pulpit and Church, which in due course he did and became one of the famous 2,000. The following entry is to be found in the Parish Register: "Simon Gowen, sometime Vicar of this parish, but put out and expelled because a nonconformist, was buried 22 January, 1671". Simon Gowen was the first minister of Westport Congregational Church (now URC). This Church was Presbyterian from its formation until 1811.

Here is a plan of the original church – all that remains is the tower.