Church of St Mary, Gilston

The current church dates from the late 13th century, although it is probably a reconstruction of an earlier church.^[1] In 1852, a local landowner, John Hodgson, commissioned Philip Hardwick to undertake a reconstruction. As the village served by the church had been largely abandoned, the rebuilding was modest and much early material and work remains.^[2]

St Mary's remains an active parish church with occasional, monthly, services.^[3] The church is a Grade I listed building.^[2]

In the south-west corner of the churchyard are three memorial stones to members of the Johnston family. The central cross commemorates Lieutenant Geoffrey Stewart Johnston who was killed on 14 May 1915 at the Second Battle of Ypres and whose name is recorded at the Menin Gate.^[4] Memorial stones to either side commemorate Johnston's parents, Rose Alice, who died in 1907, and Reginald Eden who died in 1922.^[a][6] The memorial was designed in 1923 by Eric Gill whose connection with the Johnston family may have come through Edward Johnston, director of the calligraphy course at the Central School of Art and Design in London, where Gill studied from 1901.^[b] The Johnston Monument has its own Grade I listing.^[6] The monument is currently in a poor state of repair, with the central cross having lost its top section although it remains in the churchyard. As at 2023, the monument is listed on the Heritage at Risk Register.^[8]