St Giles Church

a gorgous church, was married here fifteen years ago and still go to look quite frequently, a beautiful church full of spectaculer windows and it is everything you would imagine of a church quite, peaceful, relaxing and you are always made to feel welcome, the grounds are always kept immaculate the area is nice and peaceful and you feel at peace and at ease where people always say hello and smile and you dont feel out of place

When I worked in archeology I was sent out, one summer, to photograph churches and their surrounds for the sites and monuments records. This one was the prettiest and most peaceful I saw. I found it very sad though as, sitting on a bench at the rear of the church, all the graves in the first row were of children and babies. A delightful spot for them never the less.
I also noted the remains of a medieval (probably) moat signs around rectory.
The Anglican parish church is dedicated to St. Giles. Parts of the church are of Saxon origin.
St Giles is the oldest building in Grimsby with a tower said to date back to 1042. The nave is medieval but the chancel is more recent. The North Aisle was constructed as recently as 1955 yet has been tastefully integrated into the whole.
St Giles is set in a tree lined churchyard in the old village of Scartho and is an oasis of calm in what is now a busy suburb. Normally open to visitors on Friday and Saturday mornings. Well worth a visit. Services on Sundays as well. The graveyard is always open for visitors.
The name Scartho is from the Old Scandanavian Skarth+haugr, or mound near a gap. It appeared as Scarhou in the 1086 Domesday Book.
Scartho is both a village and parish just south of Grimsby. Bradley parish borders on the west, Clee parish is to the east and Waltham parish is to the south. The area of the parish is about 1,300 acres.
This area consists of two very distinct areas separated by Scartho Road. To
the west are tree-​lined avenues with houses and bungalows in the ‘Garden Suburb’ style with render and metal windows. To the east is the original core of Scartho, centred on St. Giles Church and the Rectory. Both areas have substantial mature trees and original winding street patterns
The A16 trunk road passing south from Grimsby runs through the the village.
There are five War Memorials within this village which is fast being swallowed up in urban development. A lot for such a tiny place but so close to RAF dtations and the docks.
Memorial to the bomb dropped by a Zeppelin in Pinfold Lane.
World War 1 & 2 Memorials in St. Giles Church.
Oak carved altar table in St. Giles Church.
Memorial to the bomb dropped by Zeppelin in St. Giles Churchyard.
Clock in Saxon Tower
In the churchyard, surrounded by all the gravestones is a tall shaft of polished red granite surmounted by an urn, standing on a plinth of granite.
This memorial to the day that the People of Scartho were spared from injury, when a stick of bombs were dropped from a zeppelin, was erected by a Joseph Grantham and unveiled on Thursday 23^rd of September, 1920, almost four years from the day that the raid occurred, which was the 24^th
September, 1916. The church clock is also from this time.
The rector of the St Giles church has prepared a visitors guide to the church, and within is the information that the church clock was presented to the parish by Joseph Grantham in 1921 in thanksgiving for the preservation of the village from destruction, and, as a tribute to those who were killed during the 1914 – 1918 war. The German bomb that struck the churchyard in 1916 badly damaged the roof of the church that half of it had to be renewed and all the windows restored. However, the ancient tower survived intact, so that the church bells could be rung the next morning for the moring service.
Presented by Jos Grantham to Scartho Church 1921