Church of St. Giles, Stanton St. Quintin

The church is known to have existed in the 12th century with a rector and in 1312 a vicar was also appointed. This vicarage was merged with the rectory in 1434 as the total income was too small for two incumbents. In the 16th century most incumbents were absentees and the church was served by the curate but from the 16th century most rectors lived in the village. The Church Survey of 1649/50 valued the living at £100 and the church land at six shillings per year. In the early 16th century the glebe house was used as the rectory but this was replaced by a new rectory in the 1780s, which was improved and enlarged over the years. This Rectory was sold in 1924, it is now Stanton Court, and a new one built in vernacular style in 1928, opposite the site of the church hall. This one too was sold in 1978 and a third rectory built in the village.

The church is dedicated to St. Giles who was an abbot in Provence, dying c.720. He was of royal descent but gave away his property and became a hermit. His feast day is 1st September. The first written record of this dedication is in 1763 but the church is likely to have been so dedicated before the 16th century.

A church is known to have existed in the 12th century and the lower stages of the tower and much of the nave are of around 1125. In the exterior west wall is a 12th century carving of a enthroned Christ with his feet on a dragon.. Above the Norman archway in the porch is a figure of St. Christopher from the Perpendicular period. Around 1200 the aisle was added and the small vestry as a chapel with a porch doorway reset because of this, In the 13th century it is likely that the chancel was rebuilt while in the 15th century a new west window was built and two north windows were inserted in the nave.

In the late 18th or early 19th century the chancel was said to have been shortened by six feet and in 1826 the top of the tower was rebuilt in neo-Norman style. The nave was lengthened by ten feet in 1827-8 and the west gallery replaced by a new one. In 1843 an organ was bought for £56.10.0d (£56.50) by means of a one shilling (5p) subscription; seats were moved in the gallery to make room for it. This organ was replaced by another in 1874 at cost of £120 but this proved very troublesome four years later. The maker, King of Islington, was very rude when told of its problems and eventually it was sold for £20 and a harmonium was then used in the place of an organ. In 1928 Griffen & Stroud of Bath supplied a 60 year old restored organ but this was said to be of inferior quality. In 1949 it was overhauled and an electric blower installed.

A major restoration by J. H. Hakewill occurred in 1851; the aisle and porch were rebuilt, battlements were added to the tower, the west window and pews of 1739 were replaced, and it is likely that the gallery was removed at the same time. The total cost was £490 and a service to celebrate the restoration was attended by the diarist Francis Kilvert. In 1851 the average congregation was 60 but the church must have been filled for this service. Heating was provided in 1883 by the means of a boiler placed in a pit providing heat via radiators. In 1889-9 the chancel was rebuilt in an ornate manner in the Perpendicular style by C.E. Ponting with the retention of the original Perpendicular chancel arch.

The churchyard was closed for burials in 1899 after the extension on the other side of the road had been opened in 1898. A new heating system was installed in 1933 but this was replaced by electric tubular heaters in 1948; electric light had been installed in 1934. In 1958 the interior of the roofs of the nave and aisle was completely recovered in new plasterboard. The stone pulpit was carved by the rector, the Rev. Bertrand Pleydell-Bouverie in 1876 and placed in the church in 1893. There were two bells in 1553; in 1876 two cracked bells were replaced by one new bell, weighing 4cwt 3 lbs, at a cost of £40. The font is said to be of Roman origin and is lead lined; in appearance it seems to be Norman.

The parish registers date from 1679 and, apart from those in current use, are held in the Wiltshire & Swindon History Centre at Chippenham.