The Corpus of ROMANESQUE SCULPTURE in Britain & Ireland
St Helen and St Giles (medieval)
Parish church
Rainham is a suburban town in the London Borough of Havering, but traditionally in Essex. It is on the N bank of the Thames, E of Dagenham and separated from the river by Rainham Marshes. The church is in the old centre, and is the only medieval building still standing. 20thc expansion has largely proceeded to the W. St Helen and St Giles is a remarkably complete later 12thc church, consisting of a chancel, a nave with N and S aisles, and a S porch, and a W tower with some 12thc lancets and a replacement brick parapet with a pyramid roof. Construction is of flint and stone rubble with ashlar dressings. The church was restored by Rev. Ernest Geldart (1897-1910). Romanesque features covered here are the doorways in the N nave aisle and on either side of the chancel as well as the E oculus on the exterior, and inside, the nave arcades, chancel and tower arches, font and a piscina in the S nave aisle.