Church Of St Giles

Church of St Giles

This cruciform church with an aisled nave originates from the late 12th century and was substantially remodelled in the mid 13th century when the transepts were added. The north aisle was remodelled in the early 14th century, the west tower dates from the 14th century, and a clerestory was added to the north in the 15th century. The building was restored between 1880 and 1891 by C.C. Rolfe. It is constructed of coursed limestone rubble and squared stone, with a gabled 20th-century tile roof and lead transept roofs.

The chancel features mid 13th-century short clasping buttresses and a string course forming hoods over three grouped lancets to the east. The south side has two early 14th-century three-light windows, a blocked 15th-century four-light window above, a mid 13th-century pointed chamfered door with hood, and a 13th-century tomb recess with stiff-leaf capitals to slender shafts. The north side has a string course forming hoods over two mid 13th-century lancets flanking a blocked early 14th-century curvilinear three-light window, a blocked 12th-century round-headed door with hood and incised imposts and moulding.

The north transept has a string course forming hoods over two mid 13th-century lancets to the east and one to the west, a 19th-century door, an early 14th-century curvilinear three-light north window, and a blocked late 13th-century archway to a former demolished east chapel. The north aisle, dating to around 1300, has three three-light trefoil-headed windows, short buttresses, a pointed moulded door and a two-light west window with quatrefoil head.

The south transept has 13th-century short corner and wall buttresses, a 15th-century two-light Perpendicular window set in a blocked archway to a former east chapel, an early 14th-century three-light intersecting traceried south window and a late 13th-century two-light trefoil-headed west window. The south aisle has three three-light trefoil-headed windows, a late 19th-century south door, a 14th-century porch with double-chamfered doorway, and a 15th-century Perpendicular four-light west window. The 15th-century clerestory has partly restored two-light cinquefoil-headed windows.

The 14th-century octagonal west tower comprises three stages with offset corner buttresses, slit-lights to the south stair-turret, square-headed lancets, an ogee-pierced parapet and ribbed spire.

Interior features include 15th-century sedilia under a window with carved arm rests, a 19th-century piscina, and a restored late 12th-century Transitional chancel arch. The mid 13th-century transept arches are double-chamfered with stiff-leaf capitals to the south and bell capitals to the north. The south transept has a cusped rere-arch to the south and a late 19th-century pulpit with canopy.

The four-bay late 12th-century Transitional south arcade has double-chamfered pointed arches set on round piers. The four-bay north arcade was rebuilt in the early 14th century with double-chamfered arches set on octagonal piers with corbel heads. Similar corbel heads appear on the inner order of the double-chamfered archway to the north chapel. Carved reset fragments at the west end of the south aisle include representations of two ecclesiastics and a Norman chevron moulding.

A late 12th-century doorway provides access to the tower. The roofs are 15th-century with quartered and moulded beams to the aisles, and a fine chancel roof in East Anglian style.

The furnishings include a pulpit, font cover, altar, bench ends and stalls carved by Harry Hems of Exeter in the 1880s. Monuments include a pedimented slate-shaped wall tablet to Walter Strickland (died 1839) by J.J. Sanders in the north aisle, a draped wall tablet with urn to Frances Strickland (died 1836) also by Sanders, a cartouche to Susanah Couch (died 1715) in the north transept, wall tablets to Elizabeth Western (died 1804) and Maximilian Western of Cokethorpe Hall (died 1795) by P. Rouw the younger in the south aisle, the latter with bracketed and shaped pediment.

The stained glass includes late 19th-century work by Burlison and Grylls, with the west window of the south transept featuring some 14th-century white foliage designs.