Church of St. Giles, Kellaways, Langley Burrell

The present church was built c.1800 and is constructed in ashlar with a low, pitched slate roof. There is an open timber roof and wooden pews, which replaced box pews in the late 19th century when the west gallery was also removed. The pulpit and ashlar font are both 18th century and presumably came from the earlier church. The churchwardens’ accounts have only survived from Easter 1811; between Christmas 1833 and Easter 1834 the church door and gate were painted. There also seems to have been a problem with window breaking at this time as windows were repaired in 1833 and 1835. A bolt had been fixed to the churchyard gate in 1831/2. The church is fairly isolated from dwellings and close to the road and Maud Heath’s Causeway. The church wall is early 19th century and may be contemporary with the church.

Legend has it that there was a plague of rats in the old church that caused its abandonment and the building of a new one. These rats cavorted throughout services and put one in mind of Hamelin. Whatever the truth of the matter the old church had probably become dilapidated and it was decided it would be easier to build a new one on, or near, the same site than repair the old one.

The first recorded rector was Edmund of Tytherton (in nearby Bremhill) in 1304. The patron of the living was Johnnes de Calleway and the Calloway family remained patrons, with a few other names interspersed until 1429.