St Giles Church, Durham

St. Giles Church is a grade I listed [IoEentry|110230|Listing on Images of England] parish church in Gilesgate, Durham, England.

The church was constructed as the hospital chapel of the Hospital of St Giles and was dedicated in on St Barbara's Day, June 1112 by Bishop Flambard to "the honour of God and St Giles". The church became caught up in an 1140 dispute over the bishopric of Durham following the usurpation of the diocese by William Cumin, Chancellor of King David I of Scotland. William of St Barbara, the rightly elected Bishop was forced to retreat to, and fortify, the church after his abortive entry into Durham was beaten back by Cumin's men. In response Cumin's men destroyed the hospital, which was later refounded at nearby Kepier.

Bishop Puiset later extended the church to reflect its role at the centre of a growing parish, and the current font is believed to date from this time. The church was appropriated to Kepier Hospital which acted as rector, receiving tithes and with the advowson (right to appoint a vicar), appointing a parochial chaplain to minister to the needs of the parish.

John Heath, the Elizabethan owner of the Kepier estates, Gilesgate and Old Durham is buried in the church.

The ecclesiastical parish of St Giles was divided in 1852 with the creation of a new Belmont parish, served from church of St Mary Magdalene, Belmont and covering Belmont, Gilesgate Moor and New Durham.

St Giles Church retains some of Flambard's original building (primarily the north wall) and most of Puiset's additions. Minor restoration and there large windows inserted into the south wall in 1828. The church was restored and extended in 1873-1876 as the parish continued to grow.

References

External links

* [http://www.thenortheast.fsnet.co.uk/DurhamCityGilesgate.htm Gilesgate including the Cumin usurpation]
* [http://www.thisisthenortheast.co.uk/the_north_east/leisure/DURMEM250403.html Northern Echo Durham Memories article on Gilesgate and St Giles Church]
* [http://viewfinder.english-heritage.org.uk/search/detail.asp?calledFrom=oai&imageUID=73964 Effigy of John Heath, St Giles Church]