Church Of St Giles

The Church of St Giles is a parish church with origins dating back to 1112 AD, when it was part of the hospital of St Giles. The north nave wall was constructed around 1114, the chancel in the late 12th century, and the tower in the early 13th and early 15th centuries. A south aisle and vestry were added around 1873, along with a north porch. The church is built of sandstone, primarily coursed and squared with ashlar dressings; the porch is of snecked sandstone.

The exterior comprises a nave with a south aisle and north porch, a chancel with a south vestry, and a west tower. The square tower has clasping buttresses and a restored three-light west window with Perpendicular tracery. The upper stages feature small square-headed windows, two-light belfry openings with traceried decoration except on the east side, and pinnacled battlements. The north wall of the nave has three small windows, the western two round-headed with shallow chamfered surrounds (the eastern window being renewed). Massive buttresses define the eastern bay, which was originally the chancel. The later chancel has a blocked north door and shafted round-headed north and south windows with zig-zag moulding, as well as a renewed five-light east window. The buttressed south aisle has five Perpendicular three-light windows.

The interior consists of coursed squared sandstone on a rubble base in the nave and chancel, with rubble in the tower. Later 19th-century work features painted plaster with ashlar dressings, and a panelled roof supported by painted corbels and tie beams. Octagonal columns in the five-bay arcade and south organ chamber have two hollow chamfers to two-centred arches. Three shafts support a renewed double-chamfered chancel arch; a fragment of a former chancel arch remains on the north side, featuring two head corbels. The tower arch is of two orders, with dog-tooth corbels. A re-sited north door, originally from the south, has cushion capitals and zig-zag moulding. Deep splays are present on the north nave windows, while chancel windows have water-leaf capitals and a zig-zag drip string. There are blocked round-headed doors in the chancel and adjacent to the north door. The font in the tower has a lead-lined bowl on a round pedestal with a cushion capital. A wooden effigy of John Heath of Kepier, who died in 1591, is located in the chancel. He is depicted in armour, with his head resting on a cock-crested helmet and his feet on a scroll bearing two skulls and the motto "Hodie mihi cras tibi.” Heath’s arms are displayed on a shield hanging from a renewed wooden chest. The porch contains a fragment of a medieval, tegulated, coped grave-cover.