St Giles Hampton Gay, Pt2

 

This week the Church Explorer returns to St Giles Hampton Gay on a return visit to see the inside of the church.

This time I approached the church from the village about 500 meters away as you can see the church stands on it's own in a field

Inside the church is very light

The altar

looking back towards the back

I used both Mirrorless camera and iphone for the photos

Closer view of the altar

Pulpit and the organ

Pulpit view

Balcony, I did think it was an organ in the centre but a closer look showed that not to be the case

Down at the altar as well

This is the memorial I showed through the window last week, it's a lot better when you see from nearby

Collage of the figures and inscriptions. They had two daughters but from the look one died as a youngster. The give away is the fact she is in repose in a skull

 

There are quite a few other memorials in the church as well

 

This looks like a bequest of money to the church

 

You can see some tombs in the floor

This memorial is another you can see

 

The coat of arms is to King George V

History on the church

 

A candle lamp on the wall with memorial under it
 

Not sure the age of the font

 

These wide angle view were taken with my mirrorless camera

 

This shows the memorial and the altar

 

Looking back to the balcony

Looking down from the balcony at the altar

One of the whole church

one from the back of the church

Collage of the pews

The beautifully simple altar cross and candle holders

I will leave you with this photo of the Christmas Tree 

As it is Christmas next weekend I will be taking a break till the new year where I will be doing my Reviews of this year

Till Next time I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

St Giles Hampton Gay

 

St Giles literally stands alone in a field not far from the Village of Hampton Gay. I took the footpath from Shipton on Cherwell to the church passing under the railway with the Cherwell running under the footbridge I was walking along. At first sight the church looked as though it had been taken over by a trust  but a notice on the confirmed it was still in use and the fact  the church was locked. I did find out I could get a key but that was another walk to the farm a good half mile away so I thought I'd leave it for another visit. There is a bit of history to read from Wikipedia :-

"Tithe records show that Hampton Gay had a parish church by 1074. The Church of england parish church of Saint Giles had included features from at least as early as the 13th century, but in 1767–72 the Rev. Thomas Hindes, a member of the family that then owned the manor, had it completely rebuilt. In 1842 the antiquarian J.H. Parker condemned St. Giles' Georgian architecture as "a very bad specimen of the meeting-house style". In 1859–60 the curate, Rev. F. C. Hingeston, altered the church to his own designs, replacing its round-headed Georgian windows with ones in an Early English Gothic style and having the south doorway re-cut in a Norman revival fashion. St. Giles contains a number of monuments, most of them to the Barry family. The most notable is a 17th-century wall monument with kneeling effigies of Vincent and Anne Barry and their daughter Lady Katherine Fenner. St. Giles' parish is now part of the Church of England benefice of Akeman, which includes the parishes of Bletchingdon, Chesterton, Kirtlington, Middleton Stoney, Wendlebury and Weston-on-the-Green."

After going through the gate this is your fist view of the church

South side view of the church

West end view, no aisles 

The door here looks Norman

North side with a single lancet window

East end with a triple window, the top of the tower is unusual in that it has a sphere at the top with the weather vane 

Back to the south side again

Further away from the meadow next door

Wide angle view of the church

Porch leading in, the door was locked so no chance of going inside on this occasion

Graves are in restively good condition

Some of the older ones in the long grass 

Beside the church

Collage showing a few more

Older ones in the long grass

Towards the east end of the church

As I said no internal views this week but looking through the window you cans see this beautiful memorial

and the fact it still has some original pews

The last window shows a couple more memorials.

Wide angle shot before I go back

As I got to the gate these fellows were waiting for me

My problem was I did not like the look of the horns so hopped on the wall and walked along before jumping down. Must admit this one was friendly enough.

As I managed to go back on Wednesday I have decided to publish the photo's in my blog next week which will be the last one I do this year as I will be taking a break till the new year

Till next time take care and I wish you all a peaceful weekend