St Giles Anglican Church Leigh on Mendip

The first thing which strikes you as you come towards the village of Leigh on Mendip ( from some distance in fact ) is the unusual Church tower. It rises 91 feet up above the village and has a decorated facade. Contained within it are 6 bells ( first hung 1757) and these form part of the unusual feature of a faceless clock. No dial is visible and the only indication of the time is the striking of the bells. This clock was restored as part of the village's Millenium celebrations.

The Church dates from the 15th Century and the tower with its intriquet decoration and 20 pinnacles, dates from the reign of Henry vIIth. The nave benches inside were carved during the reign of Richard II, although the greater number of the pews date from the early 15th Century. The font is early Norman.

Unusually the steps of the chancel go down not up, as the Chancel floor is at the original level set in Anglo-Saxon times.

The West window contains symbols of the Passion, while the East window has M's in it to commerate their installation in the reign of Mary Tudor.

Address : Leigh on Mendip, Radstock, Bath, BA3 5QP

Outside picture © Copyright ChurchCrawler and licensed
for reuse under this Creative Commons
Licence
Inside picture © Copyright Adam Marbleunder the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License