St Giles' Church is the

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

Copmanthorpe Copmanthorpe () is a village and civil parish in the City of York in the English county of North Yorkshire, south-west of York, west of Bishopthorpe and close to Acaster Malbis, Askham Bryan and Askham Richard. According to the 2001 census the ...

, a suburban village in the southern part of the City of York district, in the ceremonial county of

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...

, England. It is a

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

building. The church was built in about 1180, as a chapel in the parish of St Mary Bishophill Junior. The churchyard was enclosed in 1750. In 1844, it was moved to a new parish of Copmanthorpe and Upper Poppleton, and from 1866 it had its own parish. In 1848, the church was described as "a small plain building". The church was restored in 1889 by

C. Hodgson Fowler Charles Hodgson Fowler (2 March 1840 – 14 December 1910) was a prolific English ecclesiology, ecclesiastical architect who specialised in building and, especially, Victorian restoration, restoring churches. Life He was born in Nottinghamshir ...

. He added a

vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government for a parish in England, Wales and some English colonies which originally met in the vestry or sacristy of the parish church, and consequently became known colloquiall ...

and an organ chamber, new flooring, seating, and a staircase to the existing gallery. He also rebuilt some of the walls and added a

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ove ...

, with the east end of the church relocated to form the east end of the new chancel. He moved the panelling from the nave to the chancel, and re-panelled the nave with the old seating, although this was removed, probably in 1916 when the gallery was taken down. A porch and new vestry were added in 1977, and the St Giles' Centre parish hall was added on the north side in 1992. In 2013, a

narthex The narthex is an architectural element typical of early Christian and Byzantine basilicas and churches consisting of the entrance or lobby area, located at the west end of the nave, opposite the church's main altar. Traditionally the narthex ...

was added at the west end, including toilets and a kitchen, and the chancel was rearranged. The church is built of Magnesian Limestone, some of which is covered with render. 12th century features include the main doorway and the bell turret. Most of the windows are single round-arch structures of early date. The east window contains stained glass designed by

Charles Eamer Kempe Charles Eamer Kempe (29 June 1837 – 29 April 1907) was a British Victorian era designer and manufacturer of stained glass. His studios produced over 4,000 windows and also designs for altars and altar frontals, furniture and furnishings, lichg ...

and was installed in 1889.

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* {{coord, 53.91495, -1.14107, format=dms, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Buildings and structures completed in 1180 Church of England church buildings in York Copmanthorpe Copmanthorpe St Giles