A marble plaque to the right of the chancel arch in the parish church commemorates thirty-three years of loyal service to the people of Wroughton by the Rev. John Richard Turner.  Only a fortnight before his death on Monday 10^th February 1908, at the age of eighty-three, he had conducted the usual Sunday services and baptised a baby.  His wife had died a number of years before and he had been cared for in the vicarage (Ivery House) by two servants, Rubina Poole and Sarah Selman, whilst William Sollis tended the large garden.

The Rev. Turner was deeply interested in local affairs and was a founder member of the parish council in 1894 of which he became vice-chairman.  As Rector he took his place at countless meetings of the Old School Board and was chairman of the later school managers for many years.  He was not ostentatious and much of his work for the poor was done quietly and passed unnoticed.  He was deeply involved in the organisation of ‘Clothing Clubs’.  One of the projects closest to his heart was achieved in May 1906 when the church tower was restored and the bells once again rang out across the countryside after years of silence.

The curate, the Rev. A. S. Hartigan, conducted his funeral service; but clergy from all over the area gathered to pay their last respects.  They were from Liddington, South Marston, Lydiard Tregoze, Chiseldon and Latton, and from St Luke’s, St Paul’s and St Saviours in Swindon.  The usual gentry were in attendance with members of the parish council, representatives of the schools including teachers and scholars from the Infants School and many of the racing fraternity.  The grave was dug at the quiet east end of the churchyard and lined with moss and bunches of snowdrops, arranged to form a cross at the head.  Mr E Cowley of Wroughton provided a polished elm coffin with brass fittings and a breastplate for the inscription.  Family mourners included two daughters and three sons, one of who had followed his father into the church.

The death of this grand old man, who was accepted by the gentry and loved by the poor of the parish for his quiet charitable works, signified the end of an era.  In only six years the Rev. Archibald Clarke-Kennedy and his flock would be facing up to the horrors of the Great War and things would never be the same again.

Hilary Dunscombe