Description

PONTEFRACT MARKET PLACE
SE 4521 NE
(north-west side)
8/48
29.7.50 Church of St Giles

GV II*

Church. Chapel rebuilt in the early C18, with mid C18 and late C18 alterations,
also addition of 1869. Ashlar gritstone and coursed sandstone, graduated stone
slate and lead roofs. Nave and chancel under 1 roof, with continuous north and
south aisles, west tower, added sanctuary. South aisle: remodelled before 1742;
plinth, chamfered rusticated quoins; 7 bays of round-arched windows with continuous
-impost band and Gibbs surrounds with projecting voussoirs to arches, which have
tripartite keystones; windows have 3 lights, with tracery of 2 quatrefoils above;
first and last bays have inserted leaved panelled doors below upper part of
tracery; cornice, pedimented sundial flanked by ball finials above door; flat
lead roof; round-arched west window has keyed architrave with Tuscan capitals.
Tower: rebuilt late C18; 3 stages; ground floor has chamfered rusticated quoins
to west corners; south doorway with leaved doors of 6 fielded panels below fanlight
with lobate tracery in round-arched opening within pedimented Doric doorcase;
plaque above, cornice; second stage has string, oculus with plate tracery of
5 trefoils in keyed architrave; band; third stage has louvred round-arched opening
with sill band, impost band, architrave to arch with tripartite keystone;cornice.
Octagon with urns at broaches, side facets rusticated, clock faces to south-
and north, cornice; cupola has round-arched openings with balustraded panels
below sill band, keyed architraves and impost band; modillion cornice; open
crown of slightly-curving ribs rising from balustraded parapet with urn finials,
and with urn finial at apex. West side of tower has ground-floor round-arched
window with quatrefoil tracery and continuous architrave interrupted by flush
voussoirs and tripartite keystone; first-floor window as south; no clock. North
side as west but with clock on octagon. North aisle, of coursed stone, has
ashlar plinth, chamfered rusticated quoins, and round-arched windows with quatre-
foil. tracery, ashlar surrounds with keyed archivolts; the western bay has below
the window a door of 6 fielded panels below an overlight in an ashlar surround
with cornice; two eastern bays, probably of a different build, have higher sills
and transoms; western window as others but shorter and without architrave; flat
lead roof. Nave has clerestorey only to north; renewed ashlar; 5 chamfered
straight-headed windows; added easternmost double-bay has depressed segmental
arch; nave has pitched roof. Sanctuary, added in 1869, has north oculus with
plate tracery and sleeper ptiched roof, coping and gable cross; east window
pointed and with plate tracery above which, in gable, is a round-arched window
with plate tracery.
Interior: original west entrance below tower has round-arched doorway with
leaved part-glazed doors, opening into vestibule below western gallery, with
two flanking straight flights of stairs with symmetrically-turned balusters.
Pointed-arched doorway from vestibule to nave, and lesser doors to aisles.
Nave has c.1300-style stuccoed 5-bay north arcade with quatrefoil piers, moulded
capitals and pointed arches with two quadrant mouldings; organ below eastern
segmental arch. C18 6-bay south arcade has Doric colums with lion masks on
tall. bases and pointed arches reaching to roof, and wider segmental-arched 7th
bay. Pointed arch to sanctuary, with stone reredos, and east window of 1879
by C E Kempe. West wall, above gallery, has unglazed window matching those
in south side, and George I Coat of Arms flanked by two large monuments.
Derek Linstrum, West Yorkshire Architects and Architecture (1978).

Listing NGR: SE4555021898

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• St. Giles' Church, Pontefract at Wikipedia
• St. Giles' Church, Pontefract official website
• Wikidata Q17550132

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  A Buying and Owning a Listed Building: A Brief Guide
• 
  Gloucestershire 1: The Cotswolds: Cotswolds Pt. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Oxfordshire: North and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  For the Record
• 
  Worcestershire Revised Edition (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Building Small Projects (New Best of Fine Woodworking)