Church Of St James

The Church of St James is a parish church rebuilt in the early 17th century, with further rebuilding and enlargement in the mid to later 19th century. The tower dates to 1620, the nave was constructed in 1855, the chancel in 1871, and the east half of the south aisle in 1895. The church is built of red sandstone with slate roofs.

The church comprises a west tower, a nave and aisles (the nave now incorporating the former chancel), a chancel, a parallel south "transept" and a vestry. The two-stage west tower has diagonal buttresses, a moulded plinth, a 19th-century Perpendicular west doorway with a four-light window above, a drip-band, small two-centred arched belfry windows with two arched lights and stone louvres, a moulded cornice, and a parapet of large openwork hoops with crocketed corner pinnacles. On the north side of the tower is a moulded two-centred arched doorway. Just below the drip-band are panels with crudely-formed raised lettering that read: “SR EM:K : FOVN EM: ESQ: SR GBK A.MWID : DERS PATRON : BARONET”.

The north aisle, divided into two portions by a buttress terminating in a crocketed pinnacle, has two large 19th-century segmental-pointed windows, a rounded arched window in the western portion, all with hoodmoulds having figured stops, and two large square-headed transomed windows in the eastern portion, with a continuous parapet.

The south aisle features an unusual south vestry near the west end, square in plan, with a side-wall chimney and an embattled parapet with corner pinnacles, heavily decorated with carved heads and masks. To the right of the vestry are two three-light windows, followed by the parallel south "transept" and vestry. The transept comprises two bays with buttresses, transomed windows like those on the north side, and a continuous parapet with tall crocketed pinnacles. The vestry features Perpendicular windows and a continuous parapet.

The chancel incorporates a large transomed ten-light east window and two windows on the north side, all in Perpendicular style.

The interior features unusual four-bay arcades with tall cylindrical columns and moulded annular caps supporting plain semicircular arches. Beyond the former chancel arch are two bays of two-centred arches. The chancel arch is moulded in two orders with shafts. A late 19th-century pulpit of white marble and alabaster stands beneath an earlier wooden sounding board. A notable early 17th-century wall monument in the transept commemorates Roland Mosley (d.1616), son of Nicholas Mosley, in Renaissance style, incorporating a three-bay Ionic colonnade surmounted by a central Corinthian architrave with cresting, and featuring kneeling figures in each part. Various other wall tablets are also present.