St Giles
Holme, Nottinghamshire
Holme was a much more frequented place until the 16th century, when the River Trent changed course to leave it isolated on the eastern bank.
Awarded £5,000 for roof repairs, replacement of rainwater goods, and repair of damaged timber.
St Wilfrid dates from the 13th century with later additions. It is traditionally built, constructed in a mixture of coursed rubble and large dressed stones. The lowest parts of the Tower are 13th century, its small west window is 14th century and the rest 500 years old. The South arcade is a little earlier than the North, which has fragments of a Norman arcade.
The outer church walls are adorned with many corbels and gargoyles of grinning figures and grotesque heads. Two crowned women smile from one window - a winged grotesque shows his two teeth, and a staring jester holds his knee. Three buttresses of the North aisle show the initials and arms of the Barton family of Holme, these are in panels carved with oak leaves and acorns - the three bucks heads of their shield - and their badge of a chained bear sniffing a barrel.
A splendid door of studded oak opens to a delightful interior - bright light streams through the windows onto the plain walls - the stone arcades and a wealth of lovely woodwork. Old woodwork includes an armchair, the baluster altar rail, the door to the rood stairway with its original hinges, traceried panelling from old seats - now in a screen - and the roof of the nave which has most of its old rafters., beams with floral bosses, and figures along the sides in cloaks of leaves. One (perhaps modern) has his hair curling up instead of down and seems to be wearing a collar and tie.
The chancel screen is a beautiful blending of old and new. Its gates fan vaulted loft and painted figures of Our Lord, Mary and John were added to the medieval remains. The chancel roof with its floral bosses is part of the newer work, completing the scheme. The Crucifix shrine to ten men who died for peace was made from the wood of the training ship Britannia.
The shallow 15th century font bowl is on a tall Jacobean shaft. Its fine cover of gilded oak - more recent - with its winged grotesques and a charming figure of' John the Baptist. The bowl of an ancient font lies in the Nave.
By the vestry door hangs a copy of the Will of John Barton - who lies in Holme Church - the original being in Nottingham Castle. A curious memorial of 1591 is an Alabaster pyramid to a John Smith. Three of its sides are filled with the term of his will.