"There is fine modern craftsmanship in
the oak stalls, the organ case, and the pulpit" (Mee, 1937)[1].
This photograph of the church interior, showing two of the three
items described by Mee, would have been taken not long after the
1908 dedication service following the installation of a new organ
and the canopied choir stalls[2].
If you look carefully at the clerk's desk in front of the reading-pew
you can just about make out the carved figure of St. Giles on the
side closest to the pulpit. The stalls had been paid for by Miss
Margaret Harrison of Dean Hill, a very generous benefactress of
both the church and the community. She died on 6 Mar 1918 and amongst
the many bequests in her Will was one of £1,000
for the augmentation of the endowment of St. Giles'[3].
An oak pulpit was installed three years later, replacing the more
modest one shown above.
The chancel had been rebuilt in 1859[4],
when William Rylance Melville was the Rector. J. C. Cox observed
that before then "the level of this church had been so interfered with by divers alterations,
that there was actually a descent of a step or two from the nave
into the chancel"[5].
The east window donated and installed then was the gift of Lady
Paxton (wife of Sir Joseph), "and is of three lights in the
geometrical decorated style. It is to be filled with stained glass
representing the Transfiguration, the Resurrection and the Ascension[4].
At Lady Paxton's request the stone used was from the celebrated Darley
Dale Quarry. It was dedicated to the memory of her parents - her father was
one of the Bowns of Matlock[6].
Mrs. Greaves also commissioned a window at this
time[4].
 |
The interior after the 1897-8 alterations when the south
aisle was widened, but before the
1908 additions. The picture dates from about
1903. Note the organ pipes in the north transept. |
The internal layout of St. Giles' was changed, and considerably improved,
by the building work carried out in 1897-8. Benjamin Bryan described
what it was like in 1903, approximately when the above picture
was taken. "It
comprises nave of three bays, chancel, north and south aisles,
with transepts ... The north transept is utilised for the organ
with, in its rear, a vestry for the choir. East of this, abutting
on the north chancel wall, is the clergy vestry, an entirely separate
apartment. The south transept is commonly spoken of as the south
chapel"[6].
He added that "the available space in the chancel was increased
by pushing back the rearmost choir stall on either side into the
opening of the arches".
 |
This third image is of a slightly later date as the new pulpit
has been installed. |
Following the 1897/8 alterations, when the south aisle was added
and the area that is now the Lady Chapel was built, Miss Harrison
gave the church the magnificent solid brass lectern surmounted
by an eagle we can see on the right in the image above. She
also gave the brass altar rail and the white marble pavement
installed in the sanctuary"[6].
The chancel was tiled with marble by the family of Mr. and Mrs.
Nathan Statham as a memorial to their parents"[6].
The changes to the church at this time provided approximately
140 additional sittings[7].
In March 1919 John Henry Staples of Spondon Old Hall, another
benefactor of the church, passed away at Daysmill Hydro. He had
given the church a new bell, a safe built into the vestry wall,
two windows, silver communion vessels, a complete set of dossals
and altar frontals plus three large panelled oak cupboards that
were being installed in the vestry at the time of his death[8].
 |
Enlarged section of the image above.
Perhaps these were the set of dossals and altar frontals
given to the church by Mr. Staples and his wife.
However, the real surprise are the painted angels with golden
halos on either side of the chancel window
and the decorative friezes below them. It is not know when
these disappeared[9]. |
Before 1898 the chancel was undecorated and the walls were rough.
By good fortune Mr. A. O. Hemming of London[10] was
working at Arkwright's church at Cromford and he agreed to decorate
St. Giles' afterwards, so the walls were smoothed down and he
began to paint the angels and friezes we can see both above and
below. "These
decorations are stated to be mainly after certain fourteenth
century work at Canterbury Cathedral. They include the figure
of an angel, symbolising the worship of Heaven as described in
the Book of Revelations"[6].

This view shows the 1908 organ with its carved oak case on the
northern side of the chancel,
Miss Harrison's altar rail and Lady Paxton's memorial window.
All the oak work had been designed
by the churchwarden and photographer William Nathan Statham.

The beautifully carved pulpit, installed in 1911, was photographed
by W. N. Statham..
An alabaster tomb in the south aisle is probably the most important
monument in the church; it has engraved portraits of Anthony Wolley
and his wife, with their four sons and two daughters below them.
The Wolley children were John, Edward, Anthony, Thomas, Anne and
Jane. Anthony senior "is clad in an ample a fur-lined gown,
reaching to his feet, and having long hanging sleeves. His wife
also wears a long robe, with sleeves of similar cut, open down
the front, but with fastening ties [bows] at intervals".
A close fitting Tudor cap is on her head[11].
This tomb was moved about 1907[12] from
its former position in the choir vestry[11].
A number of other stained glass windows have been added over the
years, including several in memory of the Leacroft family[16]
However, in the early morning of 4th March 1945 St Giles' became
a casualty of war when "a North Midlands town" was strafed
by bullets and canon shell. The vicar described the church as "fairly
peppered" as a number of stained glass windows were smashed,
pieces were knocked out of the stonework and a shell went through
the roof and penetrated a pipe of a disused organ. Curiously, he
did not know the church had been hit until he went to take the
communion service at 8a.m.[14]
This also possibly explains what happened to the Paxton window.
Stained glass in memory of the Bailey family was added to
the east window in 1969[13].
At the same time dark oak panelling was removed, stonework was
cleaned and there was some redecoration[15].
There are also three gritstone tablets commemorating those who
fell in the First World War. When the memorial was discussed
at a Vestry Meeting in May 1919 it was felt that
all the parishioners would want the most permanent memorial possible
placed in the church, quite apart from other memorials
erected in the town[17].
The Rector at that time, Canon Kewley[18],
had made a huge effort to ensure that the names of those
who died during the conflict were recorded which later proved helpful
in providing the names for the church memorial and the town
memorial on top of Pic Tor.
Finally, we will return to Mee who believed that "The
most engaging small possession of the church is hanging on the
wall of an aisle, a set of six paper garlands"[1] (click
on the black and white image immediately below for more information).
View even more about the church by clicking on the images below:
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