Details
DESBOROUGH LOWER STREET
SP 88 SW
(west side)
3/28 Anglican and
Methodist Church
24.1.50
of St Giles
GV I
Parish Church. C13, C14, C15, C16, restored mid C19. Squared ironstone
and limestone ashlar with limestone dressings and lead and slate roofs.
West tower with spire, nave with clerestory, aisles, transepts, vestry,
chancel, north and south porches. 4-stage west tower, early C16, has
clasping buttresses, moulded string courses, quatrefoil frieze with
gargoyles. First stage has to west a roll moulded doorway with hood
mould, and above it a cusped double lancet with hood mould linked to
string course. South side has a memorial tablet, 1843. Third stage has
a single lancet to north and south and to north a clock, 1889. Fourth
stage has on each side a paned transomed lancet bell chamber opening
with ogee headed surround. Broached octagonal spire has a crenellated
base with corner pinnacles, a high crocketed band, finial and weathercock.
2 tiers of gabled lucarnes on principal faces, the lower ones with
transomed double lancets. 3-bay clerestory has parapet with single
bellcote on east gable. On each side, to west, a C15 flat headed 2-light
window and to east, 2 similar openings containing C19 casements. Aisles
have plinths and coped parapets. North aisle has to west end, C19
Perpendicular 2-light window with flat head. Rainwater head dated 1905.
South aisle has restored angle buttress to west. West end has a C15 2-
light window with a flat head. Transepts, late C13 and C15, have
chamfered plinths, sill bands and coped parapets with gable crosses.
Gables have late C13 triple lancets with intersecting tracery. North
transept has diagonal buttresses, south transept angle buttresses plus a
smaller central buttress. North transept west side has to left a C15
Perpendicular double lancet. East side has 2 C13 Y-traceried double
lancets. All have hood moulds. South transept east side has 2 similar
windows and above, 2 C15 ogee double lancets with panel tracery. West
side has, above, to right, a similar double lancet. Parapeted mid C19
vestry has a Geometrical double lancet to north and a doorway to east
with a round window above it, both with hood moulds. Chancel, 2 bays,
has chamfered plinth and coped parapet with gable cross. East end has a
single gabled buttress to north and an angle buttress to south.
Geometrical 4-light lancet with hood mould, mid C19. South side has a
central buttress with a blocked doorway to its left. Above, 2 C15 cusped
double lancets. C19 north porch has roll moulded doorway with shafts
and coped gable with kneelers and cross. Scissor braced roof. C13 coved
and roll moulded inner doorway has shafts and hood mould. Shallow south
porch has roll moulded C13 doorway with shafts, hood mould and mask
stops, and coped gable with kneelers. C16 moulded tower arch has central
quatrefoil pier with unusual stiff leaf capital, octagonal respond to east
and mask corbel to west. C14 south arcade has octagonal pier and east
respond with impost to west. Both have double chamfered arches with
hood moulds. Low pitched roof has moulded tie-beam inscribed 'H R CARP
1629' and others with initials dated 1838 and 1860. Struts to wall
shafts have traceried spandrels. 5 re-set corbels. North aisle west end
has panelling,1945, and stained glass window, c 1907. East end has a C14
double chamfered arch with a re-set mask corbel. C15 roof has moulded
cambered tie-beam and wall shafts. South aisle has a similar eastern
arch with 2 mask stops and a C19 replica of the north side roof.
Transepts have moulded arch braced C19 roofs, North transept has to
south east a C13 double lancet opening into the vestry, and 2 re-set roof
brackets and a mask corbel to its right. South transept has a traceried
oak screen, C16, restored 1918. East side has a central window with
stained glass by Smith of London c 1945 and to its right, a stained
glass window c 1953. Beyond, an ogee headed niche and re-set finial and
a C13 style piscina. To the left, a doorway to the rood stair with a
representation of a roof over it. Chancel has double chamfered C14 arch
with hood mould and octagonal responds, and moulded sill band. North
side has to left a C19 archway with C20 screen and door. To right, a
square aumbry. East end has panelled dado and to right of the window, a
large corbelled figure bracket. South side has to east a C13 double
piscina and a heavily restored C13 sedilia with clustered shafts. 2
stained glass windows, 1870 and 1918. C19 roof witih moulded arch
braces. Fittings include C19 font and pulpit in C13 style. C19 benches
and stalls with shaped ends, 1949. Brass eagle lectern, 1919. Memorials
include 3 fragments of Anglo-Saxon crosses. Painted Coade stone wall
memorial with sarcophagus, crest and cherubs to Mary Poulton, 1749. Mid
C18 donations tablet and memorial tablet. Replica brass dated 1584 and
1598.
Listing NGR: SP8030683056
