The Local History group had a very interesting visit to St Giles Church, Northampton (on probably the hottest day of the year so far! Ed). Our guide gave us a very informative talk on the history of the church followed by a tour of key features and artefacts. St Giles Church is one of four medieval churches in Northampton and the earliest reference dates back to 1120 with traces of Norman architecture remaining.

There have been many changes to the architecture since then especially to the tower where much restructuring was made - but ultimately it fell down in 1641 demolishing a considerable part of the nave!

St Giles was the most affected parish by the plague in Northampton but it survived the Great Fire of Northampton. Some prisoners who were hanged on the gallows in Abington Street were buried in the churchyard. The Victorians carried out a restoration and extension of the church. In 1996/97 major repairs were undertaken with pews being replaced by chairs to make it more flexible for modern day worship.

Sue Wintersgill