The St Giles' Tour |
|
|
The North Aisle
|
Return to the St Giles' Tour
|
The North Aisle is stencilled on a blue background to harmonise with the Lady Chapel at the east end. The windows here are of two lights each, and the tracery of each one is different.
The window in the west wall is identical to the west window of the baptistery, with floriated crosses and the Talbot lion. The Talbot lion is also incorporated into the candle-sconces attached to the walls. These mark twelve points anointed with the holy oil at the consecration of the church in 1846, and the candles were intended to be lit on each anniversary of the consecration. The present sconces were made in 1994 to replace the original Hardman ones which had been removed at an earlier date.
The stations of the Cross, which continue round into the south aisle, are not by Pugin. They were added in 1864. The wooden benches in the aisles are also a later addition, and the obscure the narrow ledge along the wall which was originally the only provision for the seating in the aisles.
Here, as in the south aisle, the ledge is backed by a dado of patterned tiles. The window to the west of the porch represents six royal Saxon saints. In the left-hand light are Edmund, Edward the Martyr, Edward Confessor; and right, Etheldreda, Ethelburga and Mildred. Moving eastwards, the next window contains the canopied figures of St. Peter and St. Paul.
In the lower part of the window St. Peter is shown being crucified upside down, while St. Paul is represented by the book open at his Epistle to the Romans and the crossed swords. The third window, and the one that pleased Pugin the most shows the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove, and seven corporal works of mercy: clothing and naked, visiting prisoners, giving a drink to the thirsty, sheltering the homeless, feeding the hungry, visiting the sick and burying the dead.
The window in the west wall is identical to the west window of the baptistery, with floriated crosses and the Talbot lion. The Talbot lion is also incorporated into the candle-sconces attached to the walls. These mark twelve points anointed with the holy oil at the consecration of the church in 1846, and the candles were intended to be lit on each anniversary of the consecration. The present sconces were made in 1994 to replace the original Hardman ones which had been removed at an earlier date.
The stations of the Cross, which continue round into the south aisle, are not by Pugin. They were added in 1864. The wooden benches in the aisles are also a later addition, and the obscure the narrow ledge along the wall which was originally the only provision for the seating in the aisles.
Here, as in the south aisle, the ledge is backed by a dado of patterned tiles. The window to the west of the porch represents six royal Saxon saints. In the left-hand light are Edmund, Edward the Martyr, Edward Confessor; and right, Etheldreda, Ethelburga and Mildred. Moving eastwards, the next window contains the canopied figures of St. Peter and St. Paul.
In the lower part of the window St. Peter is shown being crucified upside down, while St. Paul is represented by the book open at his Epistle to the Romans and the crossed swords. The third window, and the one that pleased Pugin the most shows the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove, and seven corporal works of mercy: clothing and naked, visiting prisoners, giving a drink to the thirsty, sheltering the homeless, feeding the hungry, visiting the sick and burying the dead.
Return to the St Giles' Tour
|
St Giles is part of the Archdiocese of Birmingham - Charity No. 234216
|
Website by Gabriel Media Limited
|