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Malmesbury, Wiltshire
High Street, Malmesbury
Starting your tour of Malmesbury at the bottom of the High Street see the towering Avon Mills, also known as the silk mills, they were originally built in 1790 for wool, they've also been used for corn, they're Grade II Listed and are now apartments. Moving on the next significant building is the one on the right with the blocked up archway, this is St John's Court, a Grade II* terrace of three 16th century Almshouses, they have medieval stonework re-used from the former Hospital of St John.
Take a detour, before returning the same way to the High Street, into King's Wall, a street on the left. Here you'll find the imposing Kings House, also known as Kings Wall, its an excellent example of a Baroque style, early 18th century house, with fine ballustrading to the roof. It's Grade II*.
Take a detour, before returning the same way to the High Street, into King's Wall, a street on the left. Here you'll find the imposing Kings House, also known as Kings Wall, its an excellent example of a Baroque style, early 18th century house, with fine ballustrading to the roof. It's Grade II*.
Return to the High Street and slightly further on is the 'Smoking Dog', not a great name but it's a Butcombe brewery pub so you could get a good pint there. Just a little beyond the Dog is the more traditionally named Kings Arms, Grade II, 16th century, well known for its food, accommodation, and live music. Around here you will find an assortment of shops, and a very decent bakery, Hobb House.
Around the corner from the High Street, Grade II* 1672 Old Brewery House, and Grade I, 15th century, Market Cross, is St Paul's Bell Tower. The Bell Tower is also Grade I Listed and also dating back to the 15th century, the church had collapsed by the early 16th century, so outside of its NHBC warranty. Beyond is the Old Bell Hotel, 13th century, Grade I Listed, dog friendly, and well worth a visit before going into the adjacent Malmesbury Abbey, it's also reputed to be England's oldest hotel, the Old Bell that is! The Abbey, of course, is beautiful, either just to view, eat in, it has its own cafe, or, low and behold, attend a service! The Abbey was built in the 12th century, and is Grade I Listed. Hopefully refreshed from food for body and soul you will not want to miss the famous, formerly naked gardner's (yes, seriously - naked!) infamous, 5 acre Abbey House Gardens, where the first king of all of England, Athelstan, was buried in 939, somewhere. They don't know where, but who knows what double digging might one day turn up. The gardens are lovely, and the gardener's shyly keep their clothes on these days. On your way out of, or past, the gardens head into Oxford Street to see the Grade II* 25th century Tower House. The tower was built for an astronomical observatory, the building at one time was used as a work house, fortunately the habit of effectively locking up people because they're poor has ended, unless the pandemic is still rife. If you've parked in St Dennis Lane car park overlooking it is a fine example of an early Georgian house, Cross Hayes House, 1728, Grade II*, as well as the Grade II, 1854,Town Hall. Here does end the short tour.
Other memorable Malmesbury residents include Eilmer of Malmesbury, a Benedictine monk who thought that he could fly, launching himself from a tower he was lucky just to break both legs.
Other memorable Malmesbury residents include Eilmer of Malmesbury, a Benedictine monk who thought that he could fly, launching himself from a tower he was lucky just to break both legs.
Gateway to Churchyard of St Mary and St Aldhelms, 18th century, Grade II Listed
Abbey Church of St Mary and St Aldhelm, Grade I Listed, founded c637 by Irish hermit Mailduib, monastery
founded during abbacy of Aldhelm
Entrance to Abbey Church of St Mary and St Aldhelm
St Pauls Bell Tower, Grade I Listed, 15th century
The Old Bell Hotel, 13th century, Grade I Listed
The Kings Arms Hotel, Malmesbury, early 17th century, Grade II Listed.
High Street, Malmesbury
The Smoking Dog, High Street, Malmesbury, 18th century, Grade II Listed
Unicorn House (L) 92 High Street, Malmesbury, circa 1600, Grade II*.
St John's Court, High Street, Malmesbury, Grade II*, Listed, 17th century almshouses
Avon Mills, 1790, former woollen mills, now flats, Grade II Listed
Kings House, Kings Wall, Malmesbury, 1705 Grade II*
38 and 40, Gloucester Street, 16th and 18th century, both Grade II
Gloucester Street, Malmesbury
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24, Gloucester Street, early 18th century, Grade II
24, Gloucester Street, early 18th century, Grade II
12 Gloucester Street, Malmesbury, 18th century, Grade II
Oxford Street, Malmesbury, including the medieval Grade II* Tower House in the distance. The tower
was built for an astronomical observatory.
Monk In Meditation, by R Lazard, 2014, Oxford Street, Malmesbury.
Monk In Meditation, by R Lazard, 2014, Oxford Street, Malmesbury.
The Julia and Hans Rausing Building, Oxford Street. Malmesbury. Part of the Athelstan Museum, opened by Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cornwall, 14 December 2013, available for hire. Former Moravian Church, 1770.
2 and 4 Cross Hayes Lane, Malmesbury, 17th century, possibly earlier, Grade II Listed.
The Hurdle Store, Cross Hayes Lane, Malmesbury, 18th century, Grade II Listed.
Town Hall, Cross Hayes, Malmesbury, 1854, extended 1927, Grade II Listed.
22, Cross Hayes, Malmesbury, dated 1851 and 1857, Grade II Listed.
Cross Hayes House, Cross Hayes, Malmesbury, Grade II*, 1728
32 Cross Hayes, Malmesbury, Grade II Listed, early 18th century.
The Old Water Tower, Market Cross, Malmesbury, now a house, Grade II Listed, mid 19th century.
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