St. Giles Great Longstone - The Interior

A detail of the font

Perhaps it was due to the high quality of the restoration by Norman Shaw in 1872, or maybe the lack of elaborate decoration – in its tracery and parapets etc. – but, from an aesthetic and archaeological point of view, the exterior of St. Giles’s church in Great Longstone didn’t particularly interest me. 

A view east along the nave

When entering the interior of the church, and seeing that the walls were largely plastered, I only stayed long enough to photograph its principal architectural elements – the nave, arcades, the aisles and the chancel – and the font and pulpit, which I found interesting as a geologist. 

A view west along the nave

Its 6-bay arcades, with octagonal plan columns and capitals are dated to the mid C14 but the windows to the clerestory are not mediaeval and it has been suggested that these are as late as the C17 in date, with these replacing earlier windows. 

The north arcade and clerestory

The original roofs were added sometime after 1470 and it is reasonable to suggest that the clerestory was added at the same time, with Perpendicular Gothic style windows; however, with the walls being plastered, any evidence provided by the stonework is obscured. 

The chancel arch and a view along the nave to the west

During the 1872 restoration, the chancel was extensively remodelled, including the replacement of the chancel arch and the extensive use of encaustic tiles for the floor, which was very fashionable at the time. 

Encaustic tiles in the chancel

The pulpit was designed by Shaw and supplied by the Ashford Marble Works in 1874, with the main body being polished, dark veined alabaster, with a column of bright red Duke’s Red marble (haematised Carboniferous Limestone). I didn’t closely examine the stones and I had assumed that the base and steps were made of Millstone Grit but, according to the church guide, this is White Mansfield stone. 

The pulpit

The font is unusual that it is a mediaeval design that has been resized and reshaped with eight finely carved panels by Advent Hunstone of Tideswell, which coincided with its re-positioning to the west end of the nave in 1901. 

Figurative sculpture on the font

Detailed records of the restoration by Shaw exist, which form the basis of a particularly detailed guide written in 1997 by John Nelson Tarn, a now retired Professor of Architecture at Liverpool University. Although it does say a great deal about the stonework, which is my particular interest, it sets a standard for church guides.

The church guide by John Nelson Tarn