The picturesque village of Stanton Fitzwarren on the outskirts of Swindon holds a secret: A lot of the village is part of the Unification Church, which is sometimes known by the short name “Moonies”.
In 1973 the Lord of the Manor and respected Swindon architect Henry Masters and his wife Avril, who were pillars of the local community, had outraged convention, confounded society and stupefied fellow Stanton Fitzwarren churchgoers by donating the sumptuous South Farm Estate to a “bizarre cult”.It was valued at over a million pounds, and had been in his family for 400 years.The cult, which was founded in South Korea by Sun Myung Moon, is The Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity.
The “Moonies” still have a presence in the village, and within the grounds of the farm there is a burial site.
In 1983 I photographed one of the members of the church, a Mr Derbyshire, in the Deer Park of South Farm for a regional newspaper.
