Schism at St Mary’s 1865-1868
Revd John Duncan Revd Canon John Guthrie During this period, St Mary the Virgin at Calne, the parish church, did not have a rector. The vicar 1835- 1865, whose tenure ended with his death, was Revd Canon John Guthrie. In his youth a keen and able cricketer, he married well second time round. Both he and his wife founded schools, his aimed at remedying the deficiencies of working class education. He was seen as representing the low church, evangelical tradition within the Church of England. He would have been hard for any successor to follow. But when his successful ministry ended, the bishop of Salisbury replaced him with the perpetual curate at Lyneham, Revd John Duncan, who was more high church, emphasising vestments, ritual and liturgy. I have not been able to establish whether as seems likely this represented the influence of the Oxford Movement. He too was interested in education, instigating the founding of St Mary’s School, Calne in 1873. Tensions within the church seem to have ...