St. Giles’s in the Fields, on the south side of St. Giles’s street, is so named to distinguish it from St. Giles’s Cripplegate. The place in which it stands was formerly a village of the same name as the church, which was standing so early as the year 1222, tho’ it was not made parochial till 1547. The little edifice for divine worship being taken down in the year 1623, a church of brick was erected in its room; but the ground in its neighbourhood being gradually raised to the height of eight feet higher than the floor, it became very damp and unwholesome. Upon this the inhabitants, by consent of parliament, had it rebuilt, the sum of 8000l. being granted for that purpose. The present structure is built in a very substantial manner, as indeed all churches should for the sake of duration. The old fabric was taken down in 1730, and the new one erected in two years and a half.
The church and steeple are built with Portland stone. The area of the church within the walls is sixty feet wide, and seventy-five feet in length, exclusive of the recess for the altar. The roof is supported with Ionic pillars of Portland stone, on stone piers, and is vaulted underneath. The outside of the church has a rustic basement, and the windows of the galleries have semicircular heads, over which is a modillion cornice. The steeple is 165 feet high, and consists of a rustic pedestal, supporting a Doric order of pilasters, and over the clock is an octangular tower with three quarter Ionic columns supporting a balustrade with vases, on which stands the spire, which is also octangular and belted.
In 1758 the organ was repaired; and in 1759, two magnificent chandeliers were hung up, each containing thirty-six lights.
“The new church of St. Giles’s, says the author of The Review of the Public Buildings, is one of the most simple and elegant of the modern structures: it is raised at a very little expence, has very few ornaments, and little beside the propriety of its parts, and the harmony of the whole, to excite attention, and challenge applause: yet still it pleases, and justly too; the east end is both plain and majestic, and there is nothing in the west to object to, but the smallness of the doors, and the poverty of appearance that must necessarily follow. The steeple is light, airy, and genteel, argues a good deal of genius in the architect, and looks very well both in comparison with the body of the church, and when ’tis considered as a building by itself, in a distant prospect. Yet after all I have confessed in favour of this edifice, I can’t help arraigning the superstition of situating churches due east and west; for in complaisance to this custom, the building before us has lost a great advantage it might have otherwise enjoyed; I mean, the making the east end the front, and placing it in such a manner as to have ended the vista of what is called Broad St. Giles’s; whereas now it is no where to be seen with ease to the eye, or so as justly to comprehend the symmetry and connection of the whole.”
There is a marble monument on the outside of the north isle to the memory of Hugh Merchant, Gent. who died on the 17th of January, 1714, with this inscription:
When, by inclemency of air,
These golden letters disappear,
And Time’s old cankered teeth have shown
Their malice on this marble stone,
Virtue and Art shall write his name