St. Giles Great Longstone - The Exterior

A general view of St. Giles' church from the north-east

The Peak District National Park is a great place to visit and, in recent years, I have undertaken numerous bus journeys on the 218 to Bakewell or the 272 to Castleton – from Sheffield - to explore its geology and landscape, historic buildings such as Chatsworth House and Haddon Hall, and various mediaeval churches.

Bus routes from Sheffield to the Peak District National Park

During late spring in 2019, my trip to St. John the Baptist’s church in Tideswell made me realise that bus travel off these routes was not so easy. To make the most of the day out by visiting another church, I planned to catch a Hulleys No. 173 bus from Tideswell to either Great Longstone or Hope – finally choosing the latter.

The approach to St. Giles' church from Great Longstone

Having spent a day revisiting Cawthorne in Barnsley, a couple of days later I woke up to a sunny morning and decided to finally make the journey to Great Longstone – a small village to the east of Monsal Head. With the timing of the bus providing me with an hour and a half to explore, I immediately set off up the hill to St. Giles’ church.

A geological map of the area around Great Longstone

Set on bedrock geology comprising mudstone of the Widmerpool Formation, the Carboniferous Limestone used for the walling is from the Eyam Limestone Formation, which outcrops just to the north and east of the village. The nearest source of Millstone Grit used for quoins and dressings is the Ashover Grit, about 4 km to the east.

The tower

Starting at the tower, its base is C13 and the oldest visible part of the church, with the upper stages added in the late C15, with the parapet raised slightly during a major restoration by Norman Shaw in 1872. This was undertaken very sympathetically and, although very many windows were replaced, the details were faithfully reproduced. 

A general view along the north elevation

Walking anticlockwise, the north aisle has restored C13 windows but the clerestory windows are in a Tudor style, believed to be C16 or even C17, and this makes it very difficult to assign a date to the clerestory.

A general view from the south-east

The chancel was completed sometime after 1470 and this is reflected in the Perpendicular Gothic style of the square headed windows; however, the large east window replaced a smaller 3-light window as part of the 1872 restoration.

A general view of the porch and part of the south elevation

Continuing round to the south elevation, the south aisle and clerestory have the same style windows as seen in the north side of the clerestory. My quick walk around the exterior finished at the C14 porch, with a mid C13 doorway providing access to the interior.

The C13 south door