Donhead St Mary

Castle Rings, an Iron Age hillfort, is in the far north of the parish. A Roman road between Bath and Badbury Rings ran north–south through the parish, past the future sites of St Mary's church and Ludwell village.

Donhead St Mary and its neighbour Donhead St Andrew were once part of a single Donhead estate which belonged to Shaftesbury Abbey. In the 11th century the boundary between the two parishes was drawn, and in the 12th century each had a church.

Donhead Hall, a Grade II* listed country house south of the village,{{National Heritage List for England|num=1146082|desc=Donhead Hall with attached walls and terraces|access-date=29 June 2016}} was built in 1724{{Cite book |last1=Orbach |first1=Julian |title=Wiltshire |last2=Pevsner |first2=Nikolaus |last3=Cherry |first3=Bridget |publisher=Yale University Press |year=2021 |isbn=978-0-300-25120-3 |series=The Buildings Of England |location=New Haven, US and London |page=294 |oclc=1201298091 |author-link2=Nikolaus Pevsner |author-link3=Bridget Cherry}} for Godfrey Huckle (later Kneller; died 1781), a grandson of the portrait painter Sir Godfrey Kneller. The Baroque curves of its design are similar to those of Thomas Archer's Chettle House, not far away in Dorset.

In 1842 a National School was built close to St John's church, replacing an earlier school; it closed in 1876{{cite web|website=Wiltshire Community History|title=Charlton National School, Donhead St. Mary|url=https://apps.wiltshire.gov.uk/communityhistory/School/Details/1194|publisher=Wiltshire Council|access-date=29 June 2016}} after the opening of a new school at Ludwell, which continues in use as Ludwell Community Primary School.{{cite web|website=Wiltshire Community History|title=Ludwell Community Primary School|url=https://apps.wiltshire.gov.uk/communityhistory/School/Details/1190|publisher=Wiltshire Council|access-date=29 June 2016}}

In 1875 another National School was built near St Mary's Church, replacing an earlier school of 1840. This school closed in 1922 and its pupils transferred to Ludwell.{{cite web|website=Wiltshire Community History|title=National School, Donhead St. Mary|url=https://apps.wiltshire.gov.uk/communityhistory/School/Details/1192|publisher=Wiltshire Council|access-date=29 June 2016}} The building became the village hall.{{cite web|title=Donhead St Mary Village Hall|url=http://donheadvillagehall.org/|access-date=29 June 2016}}

In 1945 a private Roman Catholic day and boarding school for girls, known as St Mary's School, Shaftesbury, opened at Coombe House, Higher Coombe. It closed in 2020.{{Cite web|last=Baker|first=Hannah|date=2020-07-15|title=75-year-old school closes after collapsing into administration|url=https://www.business-live.co.uk/economic-development/st-marys-shaftesbury-falls-administration-18603044|access-date=2020-07-16|website=Business Live}}

File:Donhead St Mary church from SW.jpg

File:St Mary's Church, Donhead St Mary 47.JPG

In the 12th century the Church of England parish church of St Mary the Virgin was small and without aisles.{{cite book |last1=Pevsner |first1=Nikolaus |author-link1=Nikolaus Pevsner |last2=Cherry |first2=Bridget (revision) |year=1975 |orig-year=1963 |title=Wiltshire |series=The Buildings of England |edition=2nd |place=Harmondsworth |publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=0-14-0710-26-4 |pages=221–2}} Later in that century the south aisle was added, and in the 13th the nave gained a clerestory. In the 14th century the south porch was added, and most of the tower is from the 15th century. In 1966 the church was designated as Grade I listed.{{National Heritage List for England|num=1318792|desc=Church of St Mary|access-date=29 June 2016|fewer-links=yes}} In 1980 the benefice was united with Donhead St Andrew and Charlton;{{London Gazette |issue=48103 |date=19 February 1980 |page=2651}} today the parish is part of the Benefice of St Bartholomew.{{cite web|title=Benefice of St Bartholomew|url=http://www.benofbart.org.uk/|access-date=29 June 2016}}

The former rectory, now named Shute House, is a Grade II listed building,.{{NHLE| num=1146075|desc=Shute House|grade=II|access-date=16 December 2014}} The gardens surrounding the house were designed by Geoffrey Jellicoe and are Grade II* listed on the Historic England's Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.{{NHLE| num=1468669|desc=Shute House Gardens|grade=II*|access-date=16 December 2014}}

File:Shute House, Donhead St Mary.jpg, the former rectory]]

There was a chapel at Charlton from the 14th century.{{cite web|website=British History Online|title=Victoria County History - Wiltshire - Vol 13 pp138-155: Donhead St Mary|editor-first=D.A.|editor-last=Crowley|author-first1=Jane|author-last1=Freeman|author-first2=Janet H|author-last2=Stevenson|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/wilts/vol13/pp138-155|publisher=University of London|date=1987|access-date=29 June 2016}} In 1839 it was replaced by the church of St John the Baptist, built near the main road to be accessible from Ludwell and the Coombes. The church is in Neo-Norman style with a two-tower west facade.{{National Heritage List for England|num=1318813|desc=Church of St John|access-date=29 June 2016|fewer-links=yes}}

A Wesleyan Methodist church was built in the south of Donhead St Mary village in 1837, and rebuilt in 1868.{{cite web|website=Wiltshire Community History|title=Wesleyan Methodist Church, Donhead St. Mary|url=https://apps.wiltshire.gov.uk/communityhistory/Church/Details/1109|publisher=Wiltshire Council|access-date=29 June 2016}} This was part of the Shaftesbury and Gillingham Wesleyan Methodist Circuit, and later the North Dorset Circuit. The church closed in 2007 and is now a private home.{{cite web|title=Methodist Chapel, Donhead St Mary, Wiltshire, £275,000|website=The Sunday Times|last=Davies|first=Helen|date=6 April 2008|url=http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/style/homes_and_gardens/Buying_and_Selling/article83834.ece|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160809002539/http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/style/homes_and_gardens/Buying_and_Selling/article83834.ece|url-status=dead|archive-date=9 August 2016|access-date=29 June 2016}} Primitive Methodists built a chapel at Ludwell in or before 1861, which closed c. 1965.{{cite web|website=Wiltshire Community History|title=Primitive Methodist Chapel, Donhead St. Mary|url=https://apps.wiltshire.gov.uk/communityhistory/Church/Details/1114|publisher=Wiltshire Council|access-date=29 June 2016}}

Donhead St Mary is a civil parish with an elected parish council. It is in the area of the Wiltshire Council unitary authority, responsible for most significant local government functions.

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• [http://www.donheadstmaryparishcouncil.org/ Donhead St Mary Parish Council]
• {{cite web|website=Wiltshire Community History|title=Donhead St. Mary|url=https://apps.wiltshire.gov.uk/communityhistory/Community/Index/81|publisher=Wiltshire Council|access-date=15 April 2023}}

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Category:Villages in Wiltshire

Category:Civil parishes in Wiltshire