Church Of St Giles

The Church of St Giles is a parish church with medieval origins, though significantly altered in the 19th century. The west tower largely dates to the 13th century and was refaced at that time. It has three stages with clasping angle buttresses, a stair turret to the northwest, and an embattled parapet. A moulded west door features four shafts. The tower’s bell chamber has windows and a clock above. The nave has two aisles and a clerestory, largely rebuilt by George Gilbert Scott in 1876. The west tower is of coursed and squared sandstone. The south porch is gabled with clustered shafts and a foiled arch. The clerestory windows are alternating two-light Decorated windows with foiling and circular windows with a continuous hoodmould. A higher south aisle chapel has a massive west pinnacle and gabletted buttresses. The north porch and chapel are similar to the south side. The chancel has three-light windows to the north and south, and a large seven-light east window with slender tracery.

Inside, the nave arcade has six bays partially blocked at the lower level by the insertion of a parish room, while retaining the upper portion of the arcade. The arcade features alternating octagonal and cylindrical shafts in pale stone with contrasting red foliate capitals. The roof is heavily raftered, with collar and kingposts. Pews likely date from the time of Scott’s work, and those in the north aisle have bench ends with poppy heads. Globe-like wrought-iron candelabra are in the aisles. The pulpit and font are also likely from Scott’s rebuilding, while the pelican lectern was made from a 1786 carving that previously hung above the communion table in the earlier church. A flat and worn effigy on a tomb slab survives from the earlier church, situated within the south aisle. The chancel has an encaustic tiled floor and a reredos with traceried panels, pinnacles, gilded emblems, lettering of prayers and texts, and a central painted figure. The altar piece and traceried rails also date from Scott’s rebuilding, along with the sedilia installed as a World War II memorial. The north aisle chapel has an oak reredos depicting the Last Supper in high relief against a pale painted ground. Stained glass windows are by Lavers and Barraud, and Westlake; the east window depicts the Crucifixion in a landscape, and the east windows of the chapels show the Nativity and Baptism of Christ. Other windows in the aisles depict miracles and Old Testament scenes, several of which are dated earlier than Scott’s work.