The parish church of Amesbury is the sole surviving remnant of a Benedictine Abbey founded in 979 by Queen Elfreda in expiation of her crime in causing the murder of her step-son, King Edward, at Corfe Castle.
As well as being dedicated to St Mary, the church was also dedicated to St Melor, a boy saint of Brittany murdered by his uncle in strangely similar circumstances to Edward's murder at Corfe.
At the reformation, the abbey was dissolved and many buildings destroyed. The church was given to the people of Amesbury who until this time had used part of the Abbey as their parish church. The two oldest bells of a peel of eight date from 1619 whilst the two newest commemorate the Second World War.
Here is a view from the nave into the chancel.
Here are the organ and font. The font has a Norman bowl of Purbeck stone on a 15th century base. The 18th century Charles Green organ stands against the west wall. The organ's original case is constructed partly of old pew ends.
The north transept contains the Amesbury clock, which is one of the earliest known examples (15th century ) of British clock-making skills.
Here is one of the windows.
And a view of the nave looking west showing the fabulous roof timbers.
Digital photographs
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