St Giles was a hermit who lived in France. His particular concerns were for cripples and the poor, and this is perhaps, appropriate as St Giles’ Church is situated on a plot of land formerly called Cripple Garth. However, this is a coincidence, as ’Cripple’ refers to a hole in a stone wall, that allowed sheep to pass through, but not cattle.
St Giles’ Church was designed by Richard Adams and John Kelly and built by local contractors. The masons were Freeman of Otley who used Millstone Grit from quarries on the Chevin. The roof has Westmorland slates. It was dedicated on 28 November 1881. Much of the stained glass was in place within five years of the dedication ceremony and those telling the story of Ruth in the south wall are considered particularly fine.
The present organ was installed in 1908 and was hand pumped. However it has been powered by electricity since 1945.
The Reredos behind the Altar is a memorial to a parishioner who went to Central Africa as a missionary. She died in Likoma in 1897.
The Altar Rail is of evergreen oak, cut from a famous tree at Elston Hall in Nottinghamshire, which had been struck by lightning. The donor was Francis (Rhodes) Darwin, who owned Elston Hall as well as local Creskeld Hall.
There are many items of ‘Mouseman’ furniture by Robert Thompson of Kilburn.
The Chapel of All Saints, on the South side of the church was consecrated on 6 August 1981, in St Giles’ centenary year.
The Church Hall, built in 1977, with its well equipped kitchen, contributes a great deal to the social life of the Church and is available for hire. It was built to replace the old original Hall that is now used as a Meeting Room and Choir Vestry. Further refurbishments took place in 2002 to provide disabled access and new toilet facilities.
The new multi-media system was installed in 2010 and this enables a wide variety of sound and vision to be used in the various services and events.