The roof of Oxford's St Giles' Church roof urgently needs repair. And the lowest estimate for repair comes more than £150,000. Why should those who don't go to church there, who don't perhaps go to church anywhere, care?

One reason could be that it is almost the oldest church in Oxford. Only, curiously, when it was built (and the first mention of St Giles is in the diocesan register of 1120) it was not in the city at all, but in the fields outside. That is perhaps why St Giles has the feel of a country church engulfed today by swirling traffic, but still very clearly a typical parish church and one admired by John Betjeman: "St Giles' had still a proper fair-ground air; For Oxford once had been a Cotswold town Standing in water meadows of the Thames."

- from Summoned by Bells Why did Edwine Godgoose, who paid for the building of the original church "erected for the safety of his own and his father's soul" choose a site outside the walls, in green fields, but so close to the town where there were so many churches already?

Because, in the 12th century, town dwellers did not fear rape, burglary and muggings so much as sickness, and in particular leprosy and the plague. Anyone sick, anyone thought to be a carrier of sickness, was not allowed through the gates of the town at all. The new church was built especially for those unwanted in the newly prosperous town, and St Giles, patron saint of the sick and destitute, was chosen as patron of the new church. A hospital for them once stood on the site of the Old Parsonage Hotel.

Oxford in 1120 was very different from Oxford today. None of the colleges existed. The University consisted of monks: the Augustinian Friars, the Carmelite Friars and the Dominican Friars, and St Giles served not only as parish church, but also as the meeting house where all academic business of the new University was transacted. Anthony Wood, the indefatigable 18th-century collector wrote: "The University in the early times being situated near St Giles Church, twas fit that that church should be made use of by the University and that they should not be put in the Inconvenience of going far upon public occasions."

Even after the first colleges were built, none of them had chapels and dons and students attended the nearest parish church. And here we have another reason for thinking the preservation of St Giles of importance: its historical place as the University's first Convocation House built before Mary the Virgin was built in the 1320s.

We care about preserving the town, the old Castle, the Martyrs' Memorial and returning Broad Street and High Street to elegance, but we think churches look after themselves. But they do not.

Where are Oxford's mediaeval churches? What has happened to St Clement's, St Martin's, St Michael's, St Mildred's, St Edward's, St John's? St Clement's was demolished to ease the traffic problem of the plain. St Martin's, demolished to ease the traffic problem of Carfax.

Who remembers St Mildred's or St Edward's, or St John's? The western tower of St Thomas' stands, and very soon we shall be able to see again the crypt of St George's chapel, in the Castle complex. Of Oseney Abbey we have only ruins. St Peter in the East is now a college library, Iffley Church is beautiful and serene, but none of these as old as St Giles.

Only St Michael at the Northgate stood when Norman knights rode into Oxford, and St Giles was the first church built afterwards. And because so few of our early churches remain, we should take great care to see that St Giles survives.

How is it that St Giles has survived so long when other churches have not? The reason is that, as with a few other lucky pre-reformation churches, wealthy landowners in the vicinity were made responsible for the upkeep of the church roof.

Apart from paying for repairs made necessary by the ravages of the weather, this also provided a bulwark during the English Civil War against marauding armies, who wanted to take the lead from the roofs of churches to melt down for bullets. Oxford University, for instance, bears the responsibility for maintaining the roof of St Mary the Virgin in the High Street and New College for St Mary's Adderbury.

In 1573 St John's College became Lay Rector' of St Giles and in the four centuries following made considerable contributions to repairs. In 1693 the parish records show that St John's College paid £28.6s and 11d for repairs to St Giles' roof, a huge sum in those days, equivalent to a labourer's wages for two years and four months. As late as 1936, St John's provided tiles from an Eynsham barn for the retiling of the chancel roof.

However, in that same year the government passed a Tithe Act which theoretically distributed a share of the responsibility of maintaining the roof among other landowners in North Oxford. Unfortunately records as to who these are cannot be found.

The sad effect of this is that English Heritage says it is unable to give a grant towards the cost of the repairs because, in law, other people bear the responsibility.

Oxford is exceedingly fortunate that St Giles still stands, and is the centre of a vibrant community which offers, apart from religious services, lectures and concerts and, in the parish rooms, a meeting place for exercise and dance groups, alcoholics and narcotics anonymous, even facilities for music practice.

The parishioners of St Giles have staged a series of fun raising events, among them was 92-year-old Val Sillery, who raised an incredible £10,058 simply by selling books at 20p each.

Cheques or CAF gifts should be payable to St Giles' Roof Appeal should be sent to: The Treasurer, 28 Northmoor Road, Oxford, OX2 6UR