St. Giles' Church is a church in North Oxford

North Oxford

North Oxford is a suburban part of the city of Oxford in England. It was owned for many centuries largely by St John's College, Oxford and many of the area's Victorian houses were initially sold on leasehold by the College....

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. It is at the northern end of the wide thoroughfare of St Giles'

St Giles', Oxford

St Giles is a wide street leading north from the centre of Oxford, England. At its northern end, the road divides into Woodstock Road to the left and Banbury Road to the right, both major roads through North Oxford. At the southern end, the road continues as Magdalen Street at the junction with...

, at the point where meets Woodstock Road and Banbury Road

Banbury Road

Banbury Road is a major arterial road in Oxford, England, running from St Giles' at the south end, north towards Banbury through the leafy suburb of North Oxford and Summertown, with its local shopping centre. Parallel and to the west is the Woodstock Road, which it meets at the junction with St...

. It stands between where Little Clarendon Street

Little Clarendon Street

Little Clarendon Street is a short shopping street in north-west Oxford. It runs east-west between the south end of Woodstock Road opposite St Giles' Church to the east and Walton Street to the west...

 joins Woodstock Road and Keble Road

Keble Road

Keble Road is a short road running east-west in central Oxford, England. To the west is the southern end of the Banbury Road with St Giles' Church opposite. To the east is Parks Road with the University Parks opposite...

 joins Banbury Road.

The church was built in the 12th and 13th centuries.

Oxford's main War Memorial

War memorial

A war memorial is a building, monument, statue or other edifice to celebrate a war or victory, or to commemorate those who died or were injured in war.-Historic usage:...

 adjoins the southern end of St. Giles' churchyard.

Foundation, dedication and building

The church was first mentioned in the Domesday Book

Domesday Book

Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...

 of 1086, where it was recorded that the owner of the land north of the city intended to build a Norman

Norman architecture

About|Romanesque architecture, primarily English|other buildings in Normandy|Architecture of Normandy.File:Durham Cathedral. Nave by James Valentine c.1890.jpg|thumb|200px|The nave of Durham Cathedral demonstrates the characteristic round arched style, though use of shallow pointed arches above the...

 church there. The church was built for one Edwin, son of Godegose and finished in 1120. In 1139, Edwin granted the church and all its property to the then newly created Benedictine

Order of Saint Benedict

The Order of Saint Benedict is a Roman Catholic religious order of independent monastic communities that observe the Rule of St. Benedict. Within the order, each individual community maintains its own autonomy, while the organization as a whole exists to represent their mutual interests...

 Godstow Abbey, 2 miles (3.2 km) to the northwest.

St Giles Church is 550 yard north of Oxford's city wall

Defensive wall

A defensive wall is a fortification used to protect a city or settlement from potential aggressors. In ancient to modern times, they were used to enclose settlements...

, and when built it stood in open fields. There were no other buildings between it and the city wall, where the St Michael at the North Gate church stands. About a thousand people lived within the walls of Oxford at this time.

The church was not actually consecrated until 1200, by Saint Hugh

Hugh of Lincoln

Hugh of Lincoln was at the time of the Reformation the best-known English saint after Thomas Becket.-Life:...

, Bishop of Lincoln

Bishop of Lincoln

The Bishop of Lincoln is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Lincoln in the Province of Canterbury.The present diocese covers the county of Lincolnshire and the unitary authority areas of North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire. The Bishop's seat is located in the Cathedral...

. There is a 13th or 14th century consecration cross

Christian cross

The Christian cross, seen as a representation of the instrument of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, is the best-known religious symbol of Christianity...

 consisting of interlaced circles cut into the western column of the bell tower

Bell tower

A bell tower is a tower which contains one or more bells, or which is designed to hold bells, even if it has none. In the European tradition, such a tower most commonly serves as part of a church and contains church bells. When attached to a city hall or other civic building, especially in...

 that is believed to commemorate this. Also in commemoration of the consecration, St Giles' Fair

St Giles' Fair

St Giles' Fair is an annual fair held in St Giles', a wide thoroughfare in central north Oxford, England.It is unusual for an English fair, being held in a major street of a city and blocking traffic for its two-day duration in September each year.The fair is organised by the Oxford City Council...

 was established. The fair continues to this day, held on the Monday and Tuesday after the Sunday following 1 September, which is St Giles' Day. St Hugh also expanded the St Mary Magdalen's Church to the south in 1194.

Surviving 12th century features of the church include two windows in the north side of the clerestorey of the nave

Nave

In Romanesque and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar, the main body of the church. "Nave" was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting...

 and the lower parts of the bell tower. The tower was finished early in the 13th century, which is the date of the aisle arcades

Arcade (architecture)

An arcade is a succession of arches, each counterthrusting the next, supported by columns or piers or a covered walk enclosed by a line of such arches on one or both sides. In warmer or wet climates, exterior arcades provide shelter for pedestrians....

 and Early English Gothic lancet window

Lancet window

A lancet window is a tall narrow window with a pointed arch at its top. It acquired the "lancet" name from its resemblance to a lance. Instances of this architectural motif are most often found in Gothic and ecclesiastical structures, where they are often placed singly or in pairs.The motif first...

s as well. The Decorated Gothic chancel

Chancel

In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar in the sanctuary at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building...

 was built late in the 13th century.

During and after the Reformation

Godstow Abbey surrendered St Giles' church and all its lands to the Crown

The Crown

The Crown is a corporation sole that in the Commonwealth realms and any provincial or state sub-divisions thereof represents the legal embodiment of governance, whether executive, legislative, or judicial...

 in 1539 during the Dissolution of the Monasteries

Dissolution of the Monasteries

The Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes referred to as the Suppression of the Monasteries, was the set of administrative and legal processes between 1536 and 1541 by which Henry VIII disbanded monasteries, priories, convents and friaries in England, Wales and Ireland; appropriated their...

. In 1542 the Crown granted St Giles' to Dr George Owen of Godstow

Godstow

Godstow is a hamlet on the River Thames about northwest of the centre of Oxford. The ruins of Godstow Abbey, or Godstow Nunnery, are here.-The Abbey:...

, a physician of King Henry VIII

Henry VIII of England

Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...

. In 1573 his son Richard Owen sold St. Giles to Sir Thomas White

Thomas White

-Politicians:* Thomas White, Jr., New York politician* Thomas White , mayor of San Jose, California from 1851 to 1854* Thomas White , Canadian politician...

, Lord Mayor of London

Lord Mayor of London

The Right Honourable Lord Mayor of London is the legal title for the Mayor of the City of London Corporation. The Lord Mayor of London is to be distinguished from the Mayor of London; the former is an officer only of the City of London, while the Mayor of London is the Mayor of Greater London and...

, who in 1555 had refounded the Cistercian house of St Bernard

Bernard of Clairvaux

Bernard of Clairvaux, O.Cist was a French abbot and the primary builder of the reforming Cistercian order.After the death of his mother, Bernard sought admission into the Cistercian order. Three years later, he was sent to found a new abbey at an isolated clearing in a glen known as the Val...

 on the east side of St Giles' Street as St John's College

St John's College, Oxford

__FORCETOC__St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford, one of the larger Oxford colleges with approximately 390 undergraduates, 200 postgraduates and over 100 academic staff. It was founded by Sir Thomas White, a merchant, in 1555, whose heart is buried in the chapel of...

. Sir Thomas granted St Giles' to St John's, which since then has held the advowson

Advowson

Advowson is the right in English law of a patron to present or appoint a nominee to a vacant ecclesiastical benefice or church living, a process known as presentation. In effect this means the right to nominate a person to hold a church office in a parish...

 of the parish. Incumbents of St. Giles' have included two notable Laudians

Laudianism

Laudianism was an early seventeenth-century reform movement within the Church of England, promulgated by Archbishop William Laud and his supporters. It rejected the predestination upheld by the previously dominant Calvinism in favour of free will, and hence the possibility of salvation for all men...

: William Juxon

William Juxon

William Juxon was an English churchman, Bishop of London from 1633 to 1649 and Archbishop of Canterbury from 1660 until his death.-Life:...

 from 1610 to 1615 and Thomas Turner

Thomas Turner (dean)

-Life:He was born at Reading, Berkshire in 1591, the son of Thomas Turner of Heckfield in Hampshire, mayor of Reading. He matriculated at St. John's College, Oxford, on 26 June 1610, graduating B.A. on 6 June 1614 and M.A. on 9 May 1618. He was elected a fellow, took the degree of B.D. on 20 July...

 from 1624 to 1629.

Monuments in St. Giles' church include figurines of Henry Bosworth (died 1634), his wife Alice and their three children. They seem to have been made for a tomb that has not survived. St. Giles' church was damaged during the English Civil War

English Civil War

The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...

, in which the Parliamentarian

Roundhead

"Roundhead" was the nickname given to the supporters of the Parliament during the English Civil War. Also known as Parliamentarians, they fought against King Charles I and his supporters, the Cavaliers , who claimed absolute power and the divine right of kings...

 army besieged the Royalist

Cavalier

Cavalier was the name used by Parliamentarians for a Royalist supporter of King Charles I and son Charles II during the English Civil War, the Interregnum, and the Restoration...

 force defending Charles I

Charles I of England

Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...

 in Oxford. John Goad

John Goad

John Goad was head-master of Merchant Taylors' School in London.-Life:Goad was the son of John Goad of Bishopsgate Street, London, and was born in St. Helen's parish there on 15 February 1615-16. After a preliminary training in Merchant Taylors' School he was admitted to St John's College, Oxford,...

, vicar from 1644 until 1646, is said to have led services in St. Giles during Parliamentary artillery bombardments of Oxford in 1645. The Civil War may have been when the Bosworth tomb was destroyed.

St. Giles' church building received only minor repairs during the 17th and 18th centuries. At different times in the 19th century parts of the building were repaired and the chapel on the south side of the chancel was partly rebuilt.

The benefice since the 19th century

Oxford has expanded over time, so St Giles' church is now relatively central within the city. As north Oxford was built up and its population grew, new parishes were created out of parts of St. Giles'. They included St Philip and St James

Oxford Centre for Mission Studies

The Oxford Centre for Mission Studies is in the former St Philip and St James Church on Woodstock Road, Oxford, England, opposite Leckford Road. It was established in 1983....

', consecrated in 1862 and St. Margaret's, consecrated as a daughter church of SS. Philip and James in 1883. St. Giles remains a separate ecclesiastical parish but is now reunited with the parish of St Philip and St James with St Margaret in a united benefice.

Bells

The bell tower has a ring

Change ringing

Change ringing is the art of ringing a set of tuned bells in a series of mathematical patterns called "changes". It differs from many other forms of campanology in that no attempt is made to produce a conventional melody....

 of eight bells. The oldest bell is the tenor, cast by Ellis Knight I of Reading, Berkshire

Reading, Berkshire

Reading is a large town and unitary authority area in England. It is located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the River Thames and River Kennet, and on both the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 motorway, some west of London....

 in 1632. Five more were cast by William Taylor, presumably at the Taylor family's then Oxford bell-foundry

Bellfounding

Bellfounding is the casting of bells in a foundry for use in churches, clocks, and public buildings. A practitioner of the craft is called a bellmaker or bellfounder. The process in Europe dates to the 4th or 5th century. In early times, when a town produced a bell it was a momentous occasion in...

, in 1850: the same year as the rebuilding of St. Giles south chapel was begun. St. Giles' youngest bells are the treble and second, cast in 1927 by Mears and Stainbank at the Whitechapel Bell Foundry

Whitechapel Bell Foundry

The Whitechapel Bell Foundry is a bell foundry in Whitechapel in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, in the East End of London. The foundry is listed by the Guinness Book of Records as the oldest manufacturing company in Great Britain...

 in the East End of London

East End of London

The East End of London, also known simply as the East End, is the area of London, England, United Kingdom, east of the medieval walled City of London and north of the River Thames. Although not defined by universally accepted formal boundaries, the River Lea can be considered another boundary...

.

See also

• St Giles' Fair
  St Giles' Fair
  St Giles' Fair is an annual fair held in St Giles', a wide thoroughfare in central north Oxford, England.It is unusual for an English fair, being held in a major street of a city and blocking traffic for its two-day duration in September each year.The fair is organised by the Oxford City Council...
  
  , held each September on St Giles' south of the church
• St Mary Magdalen's Church, to the south
• St Michael at the Northgate
  St Michael at the Northgate
  St Michael at the North Gate is a church in Cornmarket Street, at the junction with Ship Street, in central Oxford, England. The church is so-called because this is the location of the original north gate of Oxford when it was surrounded by a city wall....
  
  , also to the south, Oxford's oldest building

External links

• Oxford History: St Giles' Church, Oxford in 1834
• St Giles' Church — Oxford on Flickr
  Flickr
  Flickr is an image hosting and video hosting website, web services suite, and online community that was created by Ludicorp in 2004 and acquired by Yahoo! in 2005. In addition to being a popular website for users to share and embed personal photographs, the service is widely used by bloggers to...
  
  
• Photos of the cemetery outside St. Giles' Church, Oxford, on September 2, 2008