Giles
founded a monastery at a place near Arles, which was later named
Saint-Gilles (Provence). Towards the end of his life Giles went to
Rome and offered the monastery to the pope who gave Giles two doors
of cypress wood which Giles threw into the sea but which were washed
up on a beach near his monastery.
St. Giles became a
popular saint in Western Europe due partly to the Crusaders who
passed through Saint Gilles (Provence) on their way to the Holy
Land. As a result of his encounter with King Wamba and becoming
wounded and a cripple, St. Giles became the patron saint of cripples,
lepers and nursing mothers. In Great Britain alone over 150 churches
and 25 hospitals are dedicated to his name, the most famous being,
(as well as Farnborough) at Edinburgh and Cripplegate
London.
St. Giles Feast
was celebrated by all English Benedictine Monasteries on September
1st . Churches dedicated to St. Giles are often found at road
junctions enabling travellers to visit whilst their horses were
being shod at the nearby smithies, St Giles being their patron also.
St Giles Fairs.
There have been at least two famous fairs in England connected to
St. Giles day: one was in Winchester and the other at Oxford, their
original purpose being for buying and selling local produce. We do
not know exactly when the Church at Farnborough was dedicated to St.
Giles, but in 1292 Thom Earl of Lancaster of the family of Grandison,
was granted by the King a licence to hold a market in Farnborough
every week upon a Tuesday and a yearly fair on the Feast of St.
Giles. The St. Giles Fair has been held in Farnborough on the first
Saturday in September, usually in Church Fields, for many
generations. At one time with a Gymkhana by local riding schools. In
recent years this event has been renamed ‘The Farnborough Fair’
organised by the Round Table.
