S. Giles is one of the three mediaeval parish churches in the town centre of Reading, the County Town of Berkshire. Reading itself is notable for its Abbey, founded by Henry 1 in 1121, which became one of the largest and most important in England. It was dissolved by Henry VIII and on 14 November 1539 the Abbot and a small group of supporters which included a Vicar of S. Giles, John Eynon, were executed for refusing to acknowledge the King as Head of the Church in England.