There has been a church on the present site in Whittington since the 13th century, when worship was taken by the monks who walked over from the Friary at Lichfield. Saint Giles is the patron saint of beggars and lepers it is probable that the church was named for the medieval leper hospital at Freeford.

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The earliest known photograph of Whittington. It shows the old Vicarage, which was demolished in the 1880s.

St Giles Church in the early 1900s.

The interior of the church circa 1900. Note that the church was lit by oil lamps.

The interior of the church following the refurbishment of 1912. The pulpit is well over 300 years old and was originally in Lichfield Cathedral.

St Giles churchyard in the 1920s

Carol Singers circa 1920. Standing left Jack Pass with his daughter Margaret in front of him. Harry Berks standing centre with trumpet. The church was a focal point of village community life right into the 20th century.

The interior of the church following the installation of the new organ, which was built as a First World Memorial in about 1920, the money for which was raised by public subscription from villagers.

The Church Choir in 1930. Back row left to right: Charles Mann, Horace Clark, Bill Carter, George Venables, Reverand Fleming, Jack Faulkner, Frank Edgington, Mr Blewitt (organist from Gentleshaw), Laurie Faulkner. Middle row left to right: Fred Woolands, Maurice Fisher, Jack Britt, Eric Fisher, Eric Thorpe. Front Row left to right: Bill Wincup, Jock Hulme, Harry Mitchell, Alf Bridgen.

The Church Choir circa 1932. Back row: Horace Clark second from the left, second from the right Frank Edgington, Charlie Mann far right. Middle row left to right: Maurice Fisher, Eric Fisher, Eric Thorpe. Front row left to right: Harry Mitchell, Jock Hulme.

The church circa 1955. A tarmac car park was created in the mid-1960s

The Church Choir circa 1958. Back row left to right: Maurice Fisher, Frank Edgington, Reverand Davies, Mr Short, Ken Tatlow, Mr Millington. Middle Row left to right: Stanley Fisher, Keith Britt, John Pass, Clive Short, Horace Edgington, John Cooper. Front row left to right: Andrew Millington, Andrew Pass, David Nightingale, Keith Bridgen.

The Churchyard taken from the south in the late 1960s.

Three ancient bells which had survived the fire of 1761 were removed from the tower in November 1990 as the wooden frame had rotted so much that the bells could no longer be rung.

A new ring of six (from St James, Islington and dating from 1875) were housed in an eight bell frame designed by Eayre and Smith of Melbourne, Derby and made locally by John Brosch. The new bells were first rung on Thursday 3rd October 1991. Two further bells were added in April 2008 to complete the ring of eight.

Church Choir in the early 1990s. Reverend Brothwell is standing in the centre.

Surviving medieval stained glass in the North and South windows. It is thought that the glass came from Burton which had a large Benedictine Abbey in the Middle Ages.

​​​The Millennium Window is was bought through public subscription. It depicts St Giles and the deer he rescued in the foreground.

© 2018 Whittington History Society