Bishops Cannings

"BISHOP'S CANNINGS, (or Cannings Episcopi), a parish and scattered village in the hundred of Potterne and Cannings, in the county of Wilts, 3 miles to the N.E. of Devizes, its post town, and 24 N. of Salisbury. It is situated on the Kennet and Avon canal, and includes the chapelries of South Broom and Chittoe, and the tythings of Bourton with Easton, Coate, Horton, and St. James. The living is a vicarage* in the diocese of Salisbury, of the value of £351, in the patronage of the dean and chapter.

The church, dedicated to St. Mary, is a spacious and ancient edifice, in the early English and Norman styles, bearing much resemblance to Salisbury cathedral. From the intersection of the cruciform structure, rises a lofty tower, surmounted by a spire 230 feet from the ground, with turret and parapet. The interior is divided by pointed arches, supported on cylindrical pillars, and the chancel has a groined ceiling and richly painted east windows, representing Christ raising Jairus's daughter. The organ, which cost £400, was presented in 1809, by William Bayley, a native of this village, who accompanied Captain Cook in his circumnavigation of the globe. There is a National school, built in 1830. A large part of the parish was recently purchased by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, who hold the manor."

[Description(s) from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868) - Transcribed by Colin Hinson ©2003]