Christ Church, Swindon, took over from the parish church of  Holy Rood  when it opened in 1851.  The land was given by Ambrose Goddard (Lord of the Manor of High Swindon) and was adjacent to the Goddard family home and estate.  Indeed the church has many memorials to the Goddard family.  The former Goddard family home no longer exists and the estate is now a park - known locally as  The Lawns.  The hill top site means that the spire of Christ Church can be seen for miles around.

Christ Church is a Grade II* listed building - for details see the  Historic England  website.

The building is deceptively large inside and appears to be in constant use, and is kept open much of the day time.  Whilst open there is always someone in attendance for security reasons - a sad reflection of our times perhaps - but also good to see how many volunteers are proud to help the church remain open to everyone.

On the days we visited back in June 2000, one particular person - Peter - was very friendly and helpful, offering many snipets of information and amusing stories.  One of his chores is to clean the building - quite a challenge!  I mentioned how clean everything was - he told me he took pride in his work and that he almost considered the building to be his!  How lucky Christ Church is to have his dedication.

Christ Church has its own website which is packed with all sorts of information about the church - including photographs and even a searchable index of burials.  Here are a few links:

Christ Church's own website:

Home (main) Page

Burial Ground Search

Plan of the Graveyard

Friends of Christ Church

Contact page