St Giles' Church, Reading
| St Giles' Church | |
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The tower of St Giles' Church
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 St Giles' Church
Location within Reading Town Centre
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| 51°27′3.54″N 0°58′13.45″W / 51.4509833°N 0.9704028°WCoordinates: 51°27′3.54″N 0°58′13.45″W / 51.4509833°N 0.9704028°W | |
| Location | Reading |
| Country | England |
| Denomination | Church of England |
| Churchmanship | Traditional Catholic |
| Website | sgilesreading.org.uk |
| History | |
| Founded | 12th century |
| Dedication | St Giles |
| Architecture | |
| Functional status | Active |
| Heritage designation | Grade II |
| Administration | |
| Archdeaconry | Archdeaconry of Berkshire |
| Diocese | Diocese of Oxford |
| Clergy | |
| Bishop(s) | The Right Revd Jonathan Goodall (AEO) |
| Rector | Fr David Harris |
| Honorary priest(s) | Fr David Smith |
| Asst Curate(s) | Fr Samuel McNally-Cross |
St Giles' Church is a Church of England parish church in the town of Reading in the English county of Berkshire.
St Giles' was one of the three original parish churches, along with St Mary's and St Laurence's, serving the medieval borough of Reading. The church is on Southampton Street, just outside the town centre and in the portion of the original borough to the south of the River Kennet.
The original church was built in the 12th century to serve the population to the south of the River Kennet, who found it difficult to reach St Mary's during winter floods of the river. Besides the southern section of the medieval borough, its parish also included the hamlet of Whitley, which then lay outside the borough boundary. In 1191 Pope Clement III gave the church to Reading Abbey and throughout the Middle Ages it enjoyed the right of sanctuary. In 1539, John Eynon, the then priest of St Giles', was found guilty of high treason and along with Hugh Cook Faringdon, the abbot of Reading Abbey, was hanged in front of the abbey gateway.
During the Civil War, when the Parliamentarian forces besieged Reading, the church tower was garrisoned by the King's forces and used as a gun platform. As a consequence it was in turn attacked by the besieging artillery and the upper part of the tower, including its spire, was destroyed in 1643. The fabric was restored at the end of hostilities.
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