From Chicklade And Pertwood, A Short Parish History by E.R. Barty, M.A., Chicklade, Old Rectory, first published December 1955:
THE NEW CHURCH 1832
The Churchwardens’ Presentment before the Visitation of the Bishop, 1829, stated “There is nothing to report.’ This was signed by John Candy and Charles Millett.
Before the next triennial Visitation the churchwardens (again John Candy) states “The old church taken down and the new one in a forward state of building.’ We have no information about the years between those two abrupt statements, the latter a somewhat startling one.
The fabric of the old church must have gone beyond repair. In 1827 repairs to the roof cost £30 8s. 3d. Two sketches of the old church made in 1826 were seen by Mr. Ponting in 1893. We were very pleased to find in the Buckler Collection the drawing here reproduced, dated 1804. No faculty for the building of the new church has been found at the Diocesan Registry and no account of the rededication by the Bishop.
The new church was evidently quite unworthy of the ancient church with Norman features which it replaced and of which the Norman font alone remained.
Before the restoration, 1894, Mr. Ponting reported “It is difficult to conceive anything more devoid of “feeling’ and of even the most elementary principles of art than the present building. It has, however, one redeeming point – it is very substantially and solidly built.”
The new church had to be paid for. In 1833 the Incorporated Building Society lent £100 provided all seating was free for ever and £20 was raised by a Parish Rate of 1/- in the £. In 1834 Mr. Hart, of East Knoyle, lent £85. The debt was eventually cleared, 1841.