St Giles
Pontefract, Yorkshire
Through its long and fascinating history the church, which is at the heart of Pontefract town centre, has continuously developed to meet the changing needs of the community it serves.
Built to replace an earlier chapel on a nearby site, the original building had a wooden turret in the centre of the building, which housed the bells. This was replaced by a 13.5metre, castellated stone tower in 1927 and the three steel bells were rehoused there in an oak frame. The holes for the original bell ropes can still be seen in the roof, at the intersection of the nave and the transepts.
Four gothic stone arches at the intersection of the nave, chancel and north and south transepts each have equally majestic wooden arches meeting in the centre. Internally, the roof is lined in pitch pine and ribbed with large wooden arches, supported on stone corbels set into the walls.
Access to the bell tower is by Jacob's Ladder (currently closed for health and safety reasons). The font in the south transept was originally in the old Cawood chapel. There are beautiful stained glass windows behind the altar and in the south transept, including one commissioned especially to mark the Millennium.
Full information on our church and churchyard can be found on our website.