St Giles Parish Church is an Anglican church in the Diocese of Lichfield, located on Church Street in Newcastle-under-Lyme town centre.
The main Sunday morning service is held at 10.30 a.m. with a creche Crèche and Sunday Clubs for 0-15s available during the service.
There is an 8.00 o’clock service on the second and fourth Sundays of the month, and a weekly service of Holy Communion on Wednesday’s at 1.10pm.
There is a weekly coffee club which takes place on Friday mornings, and a mums and toddlers group and ‘Rainbows’ which take place on Wednesday mornings during term time.
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The church is named after St Giles who was a seventh century monk. According to legend St Giles saved a hind from a hunt and impressed the king with his holiness. He founded a monastery, the Abbaye de St Giles.
September 1st is his feast day, when there was traditionally a St Giles Market and revelries took place in the town.
St Giles Parish Church is a Grade II* listed building. A church was built on this site on medieval foundations, in 1721. It was demolished in 1872 but the original tower that contained elements of the C13 tower was left standing. The present church was built onto the original tower between 1873-76, by the Victorian architect Sir George Gilbert Scott. (
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The description of the building given by Historic England reads as follows;
"NEWCASTLE UNDER LYME
SJ8446SE CHURCH STREET 644-1/8/6 (North West side) 21/10/49 Church of St Giles
GV II*
Parish Church. Medieval foundation, with refaced C13 tower and fragments of original masonry, largely as rebuilt by George Gilbert Scott in 1876. Coursed and squared sandstone with plain tiled roofs. West tower, nave with 2 aisles and clerestory, chancel. West tower is substantially C13, though refaced. 3 stages with clasping angle buttresses, stair turret to NW and embattled parapet. Moulded West door with 4 shafts. Bell chamber lights and clock over. 2-light Decorated windows to aisles, with foiled tracery. Gabled south porch with clustered shafts and foiled arch. Clerestory with alternating foiled 2-light Decorated windows and foiled circles with continuous hoodmould. Higher south aisle chapel with massive west pinnacle and gabletted buttresses. North porch and chapel similar to south. Angle buttresses with gablets to chancel which has 3-light windows to north and south and a massive 7-light East window with slender tracery.
INTERIOR: nave arcade of 6 bays partially blocked at lower level in 2 western bays by the insertion of a parish room, but leaving the upper part of the arcade clear. Alternating octagonal and cylindrical shafts in a pale stone with contrasting red foliate capitals. Heavily raftered roof with collar and kingposts. Pews possibly date from the time of Scott's work, with poppy head bench ends to the north. Globe-like wrought-iron candelabra in aisles. Pulpit and font also probably from the time of Scott's rebuilding, but the pelican lectern was made from a carving which hung over the communion table in the earlier church, and is dated 1786. There is also a flat and worn effigy on a tomb slab in the south aisle which survives from the early church. Encaustic tiled floor to chancel, and reredos with traceried panels with pinnacles, containing gilded emblems and lettering of prayers and texts, and with a central painted figure. Altar piece and traceried rails date from Scott's rebuilding. Sedilia installed as memorial for World War II. North aisle chapel has oak reredos with high relief of Last Supper against a pale painted ground. Stained glass by Lavers and Barraud, and Westlake: east window (n.d.) represents Crucifixion in a landscape, east windows of chapels both by same artist, showing nativity and baptism of Christ. Series of windows in aisles depict miracles and Old Testament scenes. Many of these windows are dated earlier than Scott's work. (The Buildings of England: Pevsner N: Staffordshire).
Listing NGR: SJ8467846050"
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There are three clock faces mounted on the church tower. They have blue circular faces edged in black with gold minute markers, roman numerals and hands.