St Giles Church TF12 9BW
Lovely ancient rural church with foundations dating from 8th century. It is thought that the little known Welsh St Owain is buried here.
St Giles’s is a Grade I listed building. The chancel and chancel arch are the oldest parts of this peaceful stone haven – the early visitors would, largely, recognise it today. The Normans ‘upgraded’ it by building a priest door in the chancel, unfortunately cutting into an earlier window to do so.
The Victorians, also, rebuilt the east wall; so, it’s not entirely Saxon today but, certainly enough for it to be recognised. Nothing is known of the original Saxon nave but, it appeared to be too narrow for the Normans...and, they re-built it – you can still clearly see by how much. You can also see the difference in the Saxon and Norman masonry with the latter looking quite rough compared to the careful masonry from the Saxon period.
The recent rewiring and lighting scheme shows the building off to its best.
L.Saxon tub font
R. Poor box, a different message on each side.
Read more about the work of this wonderful old church at St Giles.