St Giles's is a substantial church, comprising large early 13thc. chancel, early 13thc. N and S transepts, nave with early 14thc. N and S aisles, and a mid 14thc. W tower. Probably surviving from a late 12thc. church are (a) the very thick W wall of the nave with broad pilaster-buttresses, perhaps originally the W wall of a W tower, and (b) the chancel arch and the wall which contains it.

Standlake was the successor (in settlement terms) to Brighthampton, itself a member of Bampton royal manor. In 1086 Anschetil de Grey held Brighthampton, and the Grey family presented a priest to Standlake church (a chapel of Bampton which gained independence early) in 1228. There is therefore a strong probability that the de Greys were the patrons of the late 12thc. work at Standlake.

The obvious local source for the chancel arch with its simple square orders, as for the chancel arch at Clanfield and the W tower arch at Broughton Poggs, is the crossing at Bampton, built in the late 12thc. under the patronage of the Dean and Chapter of Exeter.