Church Of St Giles

Church of St Giles

This church originates from the 12th century, with the early 13th-century nave, chancel and tower possibly lengthened in the late 14th century. The late 15th century saw the addition of the roof, nave south wall and porch, while the upper part of the tower dates from around 1600. The building was restored in 1862.

The chancel tower and nave north wall are constructed of squared coursed white limestone with contrasting limestone dressings on the tower. The nave north wall and porch are of limestone ashlar with some ironstone in the nave wall. Lead roofs sit above embattled parapets, with the porch retaining an old tile roof.

The church comprises a chancel, nave, west tower and south porch, displaying both Decorated and Perpendicular Gothic styles. The plan is two bays for the chancel and three bays for the nave, long, low and narrow with only slight differentiation between the two spaces.

The chancel features a 19th-century three-light east window with head stops and hood moulds, topped by a gable parapet with cross finial. A south priest's doorway has two hollow-chamfered orders. The north and south windows contain restored cusped Y-tracery. The north side is strengthened by angle and other buttresses.

The south porch has a moulded basket-arch doorway with a 17th or 18th-century painted sundial above and stone seats. The Decorated south doorway displays two moulded orders with a wide band between decorated with large ballflowers and running trail. A splayed plinth and angle buttresses support the walls, with a 19th-century double-leaf door installed. Three late Perpendicular straight-headed windows of three hollow-chamfered Tudor-arched lights illuminate the south side. An early 15th-century sculptured panel above the porch, probably depicting the Adoration of the Magi, has a moulded frame with three panels featuring ogee canopies and headless figures; the fourth panel is missing and the work was probably originally part of a reredos.

The north side displays four buttresses, extensively patched with brick. A three-light Perpendicular north-east window is positioned here, alongside a Decorated north-west window with curvilinear tracery. A low bricked-up north door indicates earlier access.

The tower comprises two stages. The first stage has massive diagonal buttresses with three offsets, a moulded string course, and a low moulded west doorway with a 19th-century plank door. A basket-arched window sits above. A Tudor-arched south window provides light. The second stage features quoins, with paired chamfered segmental-arched bell openings and an embattled parapet with moulded cornice.

Interior

The chancel and west end are plastered. The chancel contains a Decorated piscina with nodding ogee head, ribs and carved boss. A restored low-pitched Perpendicular roof of nine bays covers the space, featuring moulded tie beams, curved braces, purlins and colonnette wall-posts mounted on stone corbels. The nave, now extended into the chancel, has a screen positioned east of the priest's door and contains a painted piscina with ogee arch.

Fittings include a 13th-century tapering cylindrical font with moulded base and short stem. A late 19th or 20th-century Perpendicular-style screen and mid-19th-century pews furnish the interior. Stained glass includes 15th-century fragments in the nave north-east window and an 1862 east window by O'Connor.

Monuments

The nave south-west contains the monument to Sir Humphrey Peyto (died 1585) and Anna Peyto, a painted alabaster chest tomb with effigies, balusters and shields of arms, with two back panels showing children. To the west stands the monument to Edward Peyto (died 1643) and Elizabeth Peyto, designed by John Stone. White marble busts occupy an aedicule framed by Corinthian columns and half-columns with a cartouche of arms within the pediment. The north-west monument commemorates William Peyto (died 1619) and his wife (died 1636), executed by Nicholas Stone in 1639. It features white marble busts in a large niche with cartouche within an aedicule of composite pilasters and pediment containing a small segmental pediment, and cost £150. Both monuments are of considerable quality. A large black floor slab with carved coat of arms marks Edward Peyto's death in 1658.