Church Of St Giles

The Church of St Giles is a parish church located in Leigh-on-Mendip, dating from around 1350 and rebuilt around 1500. It is constructed from Doulting rubble and ashlar, with slate and lead roofs. The church features a clerestoried nave with three bays, north and south aisles, a south porch, a chancel, and a west tower, all in the Perpendicular style.

The three-stage tower has paired set-back buttresses that connect across the angles and terminate in two sets of pinnacles, with the higher ones placed diagonally. There are two additional pinnacles between each set, standing above embattled parapets that are pierced by quatrefoils. The tower has triple bell openings with two lights filled by intricate quatrefoil interlace, and identical blank lights directly below. The west doorway features an ogee gable above a four-light window.

Both the nave and chancel have parapets with pierced quatrefoils and three-light windows with square and pointed heads, respectively. The east window has five lights. The interior is scraped, showcasing an elaborate tie beam roof in both the nave and chancel, with the chancel roof being more ornate and decorated with figures of angels. The north and south aisles have lean-to roofs of a similar design, and the tower features an unfinished fan vault.

The nave includes an arcade of three bays with pointed arches on slender four hollow piers, while the chancel arch and aisle chapel arches are of a similar style. The tower arch has wave moulding. There are upper and lower entrances to the rood, with a scalloped 11th-century foot and a Jacobean cover, incorporating medieval glass in the west windows. The south aisle contains two piscinae and an aumbray, along with 12th-century stone figures of St Catherine on the sill of the southeast window. The chancel features a priest's door to the south, angelic corbels for the lantern veil, and a Jacobean chair. Additionally, there are three aediculated wall plaques from the 18th century located in the chancel and the north and south aisles.