The story of catholic faith here in Malmesbury is an interesting one. In June 1848, a young French Priest of the order of Missionaries of St. Francis de Sales was sent from Annecy the Mother house to a village called Kamptee in India. It so happened that near that village, the Wiltshire Regiment was encamped and Captain Dewell whose home was in Malmesbury and who had recently been received into the Catholic Church was leading the regiment. Providentially, Caption Dewell had met Father Larive and gradually made acquaintance with him.
The English officer dreamed of starting a mission in his native town, and requested Fr. Larive if he could help. Captain Dewell decided to resign his commission and the two left India and travelled to Malmesbury. It was a bitter disappointment for captain Dewell to find on his arrival, in May 1861, that his house had contrary to his instructions been let on a 5 year lease which would not expire until 1866. Father Larive went to Chippenham and from there, started a mission in Devizes, and Captain Dewell entered the Jesuit novitiate and became a lay brother. As regards starting a mission in Malmesbury, Bishop of Clifton told Father Larive to wait, and the Order also wrote to him not to start any new mission in England because of the financial restrains that the order was facing. But Brother Dewell begged Father Larive not to forget his aim of starting a mission in Malmesbury.
Some six months Later, Father Larive was in France and made a pilgrimage to La Salette. He begged God and our Lady to remove all difficulties from the immediate opening of the mission in Malmesbury.
A few days later, he saw his Superior at Annecy and received permission to go forward with the work if he felt it practicable. On his return to England, he found a letter from the Bishop saying that he would no longer raise any objection to starting the mission. The statue of Our Lady of La Salette which stands at the back of the Church was brought by Father Larive and stands there as a perpetual reminder of his work, and as a souvenir of Our Lady’s powerful intercession for the people of Malmesbury.
On Palm Sunday, 14 April, 1867, Father Larive said Mass in the large parlor of Cross Hayes House in the presence of 22 people from Devizes, Cheppenham, Rodbourne and Brinkworth. It must have been a moment of great emotion for the priest and indeed for all who were present.
In 1875, the building of a small church became an urgent necessity, with the help of a benevolent donation from the central Council of the Propoganda fide (today known as Congregation for the Evangelization of peoples), and the generous help of a benefactress and contributions from other kind people plus a subsidy received from his Grace Mrg. Cifford the then bishop. The Church built to a simple design, was handed over for worship on 1st July 1875.
Although our Church is only 145 years old, that saint to whom it is dedicated, St. Aldhelm, has lain buried here in Malmesbury for 1300 years. St. Aldhelm was the abbot of the great Benedictine Abbey which- before the Reformation-covered most of the hill upon which Malmesbury is built. The abbey is known for its architectural glory with its 16 side-chapels and its great spire which was the tallest in England, and a centre of leaning throughout Europe. King Athelstan as well as St. Aldhelm were buried in the Abbey Church, and it is sad that no one now knows the exact site of the grave of either the saint or the king.
In 683, Aldhelm was appointed Abbot of Malmesbury. Under his leadership, the Abbey continued to be a seat of learning and was given many gifts from kings and nobles. Aldhelm enlarged the monastery at Malmesbury and built the Church of Ss Peter and Paul. He founded monasteries in Frome and Bradford-on-Avon, where he also built St Laurence’s Church which still stands today.
In 705, the Bishopric of Wessex was split into two dioceses and Aldhelm was made Bishop of Sherborne. In his time as bishop, he rebuilt the church at Sherborne and helped to establish a nunnery at Wareham.
On 25th May 709, just four years after his consecration, Aldhelm died in Somerset. His funeral procession travelled 50 miles from Somerset to Malmesbury and stone crosses were planted at 7-mile intervals, to mark each place where his body rested for the night. 25th May, the date of Aldhelm’s death, is celebrated as feast day to remember the first Bishop of Sherborne – a true evangelist and an inspiring Saint.
The large oil painting in the Church which is almost 10 feet high is of Our Lady of Guadelope. It dates from about 1700 and was for many years in the farmhouse which stands near the site of the now vanished abbey of Bradenstoke. It seems likely that it was brought there by Germanicus Shepherd, a Catholic who owned the house at Bradenstoke for some 20 years during the first half of the 18th Century. It was still there when Mr. Storey of Burton Hill bought the house in 1921 and he gave the picture to the Bishop of Clifton who presented it to the parish.
The beginnings of St. Joseph’s School go back to as early as 1869. In that year, Father Larive in fact bought a piece of land adjoining Cross Hayes House which served as a temporary Church, but later became the Catholic school and continued as such until 1933 when the present school was built.
Malmesbury is greatly indebted to the line of priests inspired by Father Larive who have brought the faith back to Malmesbury, nourished it through difficult times and created what must be one of the happiest and friendliest parishes in the country. We were in fact fortunate in having the sisters of St. Joseph who not only presided over the school but who also did so much for everyone who was sick and in trouble or difficulty. St Aldhelm’s is said to be one of the prettiest churches in the West of England. It is remarkable to note that in five years time, we will be celebrating the 150th anniversary of the building of the Church.
In recent years, three members of St Aldhelms parish Mr. R. Lush Mr. E. Wakefield, Mrs. C. Doody have been Mayors of the town, and others have filled high offices in various organizations.
An Extract from “Catholics in Oxford”, by Father Martindale, a Jesuit, says, “St Aldhelm’s Malmesbury, is one of my firm favorites among the many Roman Catholic Churches in Britain which I have visited. I find it wholly charming, containing, as it does, Fr. Larive’s historic statue of Our Lady of La Salette, and three fine stained-glass windows from the dear old pro-Cathedral at Clifton.