Church Of St James

OLDHAM

SD90NW BARRY STREET 780-1/1/14 (West side) Church of St James

II

Parish church. 1835. By Francis Goodwin; chancel added 1883 by John Lowe of Manchester. Ashlar faced with Welsh slate roof. West tower, nave with integral aisles, and shallow canted apse. Partially projecting west tower with wide western entrance in deep moulded archway. 2-light window over doorway. Gabletted clasping buttresses. Parapet over second stage with integral surround for clock (the clock itself now removed) and high pinnacles at angles. Flying buttresses to octagonal lantern of bell chamber. Vestries added north and south of tower. South doorway giving access to inner staircase lobby. Aisles of 6 bays divided by buttresses, each with 2-light Decorated traceried window with cast-iron tracery. Shallow canted apsidal chancel with 2-light windows. INTERIOR: nave arcade of 4 bays formerly 5, the eastern bay now forming part of the chancel. Western bay beneath gallery now separated by glazed screen. Chamfered piers carry moulded arches with foliate capitals. Galleries on 3 sides, carried across west by two rows of cast-iron columns. Plain ribbed panelled ceiling, the principal timbers carried from corbels. Chancel screen and rood loft, 1920 as war memorial. Central ogee arch surmounted by crucifix, canopy enriched with vine-scroll decoration. Flanking wall panels with inscriptions beneath statues of Saints Michael and George. Apsidal chancel with plain panelled ceiling. Blind traceried wall panelling includes sedilia and canopy over reredos. Stained glass: east window, undated unsigned memorial window, probably circa 1880-90 in the style of Kempe. Small panels in south chancel chapel representing Saints George and Joan of Arc, with architectural drawings as backcloth. Various windows in south and north aisles, 1920's, one signed Shrigley and Hunt, Lancaster. Various marble wall tablets, including an ornate memorial with high relief figures in traceried niches to the Rev. Robert Gooday, d.1878. (The Buildings of England: Pevsner, Nikolaus: South Lancashire: Harmondsworth: 1969-).

Listing NGR: SD9377605459

This List entry has been amended to add sources for War Memorials Online and the War Memorials Register. These sources were not used in the compilation of this List entry but are added here as a guide for further reading, 29 August 2017.