Mr Mitchell's latest theory is that St Mary's Church in Purton, which boast both a west tower and a spire, was modelled on Malmesbury Abbey 12 miles away. Speaking to BBC Wiltshire, Mr Mitchell ...

in the Middle Ages the building had a tall central spire... Malmesbury Abbey's founder, Maidulph, died in 675. At this time Aldhelm, a Saxon by birth and related to King Ine of Wessex, took over ...