Church Of St Giles

Church of St Giles, Northleigh

This is a parish church with Norman origins, substantially rebuilt in the 14th century and late 15th to early 16th century, then restored in 1858 and 1869. It is built of local stone and flint rubble with Beerstone ashlar dressings, quoins and detail work, and has a slate roof.

The church is small in plan, consisting of a nave with a narrower and lower chancel containing remains of a Norman doorway but probably mostly 14th-century work. A 19th-century south porch has been added. The north aisle with chapel dates from the late 15th or early 16th century, though some windows have been restored in the Decorated style. A 19th-century vestry stands off the north side of the chapel. The west tower is late 15th to early 16th century.

The exterior features a two-stage west tower with low diagonal buttresses, an embattled parapet and a semi-octagonal stair turret projecting from its north side. The belfry has 2-light cinquefoil-head windows. The west doorway is a 2-centred arch with moulded surround, surmounted by a 3-light window with Perpendicular tracery and plain hoodmoulds. The south porch is gabled with a 2-centred outer arch and moulded surround, with a tiny 2-light window with trefoil heads directly above. Behind it, the south doorway is a much-restored Norman arch with half-engaged piers, one scalloped capital and the other with volutes; inside is a plain 19th-century round-headed doorway.

The windows on the south of the nave and chancel and north of the aisle are 19th-century replacements with Decorated tracery and hoodmoulds. Nave and chancel windows have carved foliage label stops; aisle windows have human head label stops. The nave has two 2-light windows, the chancel has two lancet windows and a large 3-light window in the east end, and the aisle has four 2-light windows. Each end of the north aisle has a 3-light window with Perpendicular tracery.

Inside, the nave, chancel and aisle have 19th-century open arch-braced truss roofs; the chancel roof is decorated with painted work. The tower arch is tall with a moulded surround. The chancel arch has a moulded surround and trefoil-headed panels on its soffit and jambs. The three-bay arcade has low moulded piers (Pevsner's type A) with carved foliage capitals. A fourth arch between chancel and north chapel matches the chancel arch. The floor has a chequerboard pattern of 19th-century tiles. The walls are plastered. An image niche in the north wall may be original.

The 19th-century reredos is a blind arcade in Gothic style, with a contemporary altar table. The 20th-century altar rail is in Gothic style, as are the 19th-century choir stalls. A restored 15th-century oak three-bay chancel screen features linenfold panelled wainscotting, Perpendicular tracery (Pevsner's type B), a coved head with Gothic decoration and an undercut frieze and crest. A plainer version screens the north chapel. The chapel contains an original piscina and a 17th-century altar table.

A good 17th-century oak octagonal drum pulpit has panelled sides carved as a blind arcade with flowers and a frieze carved with acanthus leaves and scrolls. A 20th-century lectern and 19th-century Gothic prayer desk are present. Oak benches display a nearly complete set of late 15th to early 16th-century carved bench ends with wreathed foliage frames and carvings based on Perpendicular tracery with enrichments including heraldic devices. Bench frontals have linenfold panelling.

The Beerstone font is Norman but has been heavily retooled. The east window of the chapel contains 15th-century stained glass depicting St Giles flanked by St Peter and St Paul. Other windows contain 19th-century stained glass. There are no memorials of more than local interest.