The History of St Giles

Great care was taken over the selection of the building materials which came principally from local sources. There was an abundance of oak and elm on Lord Shrewsbury's Alton estate, and local quarries produced sandstones of various colours and textures. A new quarry for red and white sandstone was opened at Counslow Hill, between Cheadle and Alton, and from here came the stone for both St. Giles' and for the complex of buildings which Pugin and lord Shrewsbury were developing in Alton village, namely Alton Castle and the hospital of St. John the Baptist.

It appears that Lord Shrewsbury himself suggested that the alabaster should be used for the alters at Cheadle and St. John's, Alton. It carves beautifully and takes fine detail, and in pre Reformation times it was used extensively for statuary and ornamental work. There were local alabaster mines at Fauld, near Tutbury, but instead of being quarried in blocks, the material was simply being blasted out before being ground up to make gypsum, the principal ingredient for plaster-of-Paris.

Some additions and alterations made in the course of the building of St. Giles can be seen at a glance by comparing Pugin's original plans of 1840 (right) with the modern plan (available on the Virtual tour of this web site).

A north porch was added, the south aisle was extended eastwards to form the Blessed Sacrament Chapel, the Lady Chapel was moved over to the North aisle, and the proposed Chapel of St. John was scrapped altogether. The sacristy was extended, and the "Rectors door" on the south side of the Chancel - planned originally to communicate with the priest's house - became superfluous when the location of the presbytery was moved north-east into Chapel Street.