Stanton Fitzwarren

The Church of England parish church of Saint Leonard is Norman.[2] The north and south doorways, the chancel arch and a window in the north wall all survive from this period.[2] The cylindrical font is an important Norman sculpture depicting eight virtues, eight vices, the Church, the Evil One and a six-winged seraph.[2] The Norman building had an apse, of which the foundations were discovered during restoration work in 1865.[2] The chancel was rebuilt in the 14th century with a flat east wall and east window. The bell tower was added in 1631.[2] The church has been listed as grade 1 by English heritage.[3]

St. Leonard's restoration (1865) was completed by the Gothic Revival architect J.W. Hugall. In 1891 the nave was lengthened westwards and the south porch was added.[2] During one of the 19th century rebuildings a new east window was inserted in the chancel and the 14th century one was re-used as the centrepiece of a folly in the grounds of Stanton House.[4] St. Leonard's parish is now part of a single Church of England benefice with the parishes of South Marston and Stratton St Margaret.[5]

The Swindon and Highworth Light Railway – from the Great Western Main Line at Swindon to Highworth – was built through Stanton Fitzwarren in 1879–81, although the original company was unable to open the line and sold it to the Great Western Railway (GWR) in 1882.[6] In 1883 the GWR finally opened the line to traffic, with three intermediate stations including one at Mill Lane, in the north of the village.[6][7]

Neither passenger nor goods traffic was high, but activity increased during both world wars. From 1916, timber was taken from Stanton Big Wood; and from the late 1930s the station provided access for the building of the aircraft factory at South Marston (later taken over by Vickers-Armstrongs), although this traffic ceased after a spur into the factory was built in the early 1940s. The station also served army camps in the area.[7]

British Railways withdrew passenger services in 1953, apart from workmen's trains that it continued to run until 1962.[6] Most of the line, including the section through Stanton, was then dismantled.[6]

Stanton House was built just south of the church in 1935, in traditional Cotswold style, for a New York businessman;[4] at the same time a 19th-century cottage at the north entrance to the site was repurposed as a lodge.[8] The house is now an 82-room hotel.[9]

Stanton has a village hall[10] and a Women's Institute.

• Pevsner, Nikolaus; Cherry, Bridget (revision) (1975). The Buildings of England: Wiltshire. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. pp. 477–478. ISBN 0 14 071026 4.

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