Church Of St James

The Church of St James is a Grade II* listed church located on Newgate Street in Morpeth. It was built between 1842 and 1846 by architect Benjamin Ferrey and is designed in the Romanesque style. The church is large and impressive, featuring a cruciform layout with nave and chancel aisles, as well as a crossing tower.

The west end of the church has a portal supported by two orders of columns, with two round-headed windows above and intersecting arches on the second floor. Flanking bays rise to form octagonal towers topped with short stone spires. The nave consists of five bays, and there is a north porch that also features two orders of columns and chevron mouldings. The windows are shafted with cushion capitals and roll-moulded arches, while the clerestory windows display beakhead designs in their arches. The aisle has a round-arched corbel table, and the nave features a corbel table with chevron moulding.

The large central tower includes two-light bell openings set under a high round arch, flanked by blank arches. The wall above the tower is carved to resemble tilework, and there is a round stair projection in the north-west corner that rises above the parapet as a turret. The apsidal chancel is adorned with an arcade of round arches beneath the eaves and a billet frieze above.

Inside, the nave arcade is supported by quatrefoil piers, while the chancel piers are round. The stained glass is by Wailes, and there are frescoes in the chancel created by Clayton and Bell.