About Us

St Giles Church is one of four churches in the Lower Windrush Benefice, the others being St Denys' Northmoor, St Michael's Stanton Harcourt and St Nicholas and St Swithun Yelford. St. Giles' is a Grade II* Church dating from about 1228 with an extensive Victorian restoration and a £100,000 Restoration project in the 1990s. Some of the pews have been re-sited to create a 'social area'. The large churchyard is well kept.

An appeal fund was launched in September 2006 which raised £100,000. Grants were received from the National Churches Trust, Oxfordshire Historic Churches Trust, Garfield Weston, The Mercer's Company, Allchurches Trust, the Archdeacon of Oxford's Fund, Magdalen College Oxford, The Rank Foundation, The Doris Field Trust, the Sandford Trust, the Gladiator Trust and the Beatrice Laing Trust.

Repairs were carried out to the Clerestory Windows, which were completed in the autumn of 2007. A disabled toilet and kitchen facilities have been provided in the Vestry with access from the North Door of the Church across a new patio area. A path has been laid from the North Door to the new Car Park which has been provided by the Parish Council for access to the new Churchyard.

The new Burial Ground was consecrated by the Bishop of Dorchester, the Rt Revd Colin Fletcher, on 7th July 2009
  
New Heaters and Lighting were installed in St Giles'Church during the Autumn of 2009.

Also in 2009 the font cover was removed due to safety issues and placed on a plinth behind the font.   A new cover was donated to replace it.

The Friends of St Giles, launched in 2010, allows those who wish to contribute to the maintenance of the building to be kept in touch with events at St Giles.

In 2012 a generous legacy enabled the Church to appoint JBK Architects to design a dais in front of the Chancel in order to have a nave altar. The two front pews on each side of the Nave were removed, and the pew ends placed on the new front pews and in the south aisle. The work was carried out by Steve Townsend of Ducklington and the Nave Altar made of English Oak by Tom Townsend. The work was completed in 2013.