PARISH OF EDINGTON AND IMBER; SAINT MARY, SAINT KATHARINE AND ALL SAINTS (Parliamentary Electoral Roll number: 614, Church Electoral Roll Number: 109). The village of Edington has about 290 households (population of about 716), of mixed occupations, generally with daily commuting (half households with two or more cars). A village initiative at the Old Station Yard provides employment for some eighty people in small businesses. Whilst there is a thriving inn called The Lamb and a small post-office, but no shop. The only hall in the village is the Parish Hall owned by the Parochial Church Council. Edington falls within the area designated for Bratton Community Primary School.
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The parish church is the Priory Church of Saint Mary, Saint Katharine and All Saints, an architecturally outstanding building, built in the Decorated style and consecrated in 1361. It is a large building for such a village, but it is well maintained and increasingly sought after as a concert venue. See also The Friends of Edington Priory Church on the links page.
Current worship at the parish church provides a sung Parish Communion from Common Worship on 1st, 2nd (when ‘traditional’ language is used), and 3rd Sundays, for a congregation normally approaching about sixty people; BCP Evensong on 2nd and 4th Sundays; an 8 a.m. BCP Holy Communion on 4th Sundays; and an all- age Service (eucharistic once a quarter) on 4th Sundays. There is an active and dependable Church choir of up to twenty members, led by the organist and her assistant. The tower has a peal of ten bells. Additionally, the Tinhead Methodist congregation organise their own Services within the Priory Church each Sunday.
The Edington Festival of Music within the Liturgy takes place during one week in August, when there are four Services daily supported by three choirs comprising individuals selected from some of the Cathedral and Collegiate choirs of the British Isles. Thursday’s Evensong is recorded by the BBC for broadcast the following Sunday on BBC Radio 3. The Fiftieth Anniversary of the Festival took place in 2005. Paste http://www.edingtonfestival.org into your browser or go to our links page.
There is also the redundant church of Saint Giles at Imber now vested with the Churches Conservation Trust (within the Salisbury Plain Military Training area), at which Services are normally held on the first Saturday in September. However, Saint Giles' Church can only be reached when the Military Zone is open to the public: access being via the Bratton- Heytesbury or Gore Cross-Warminster roads.
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