Church Of St James With St Thomas

The Church of St James with St Thomas is a church dating to 1863-6, with the date 1866 inscribed on the tower. It was designed by EG Paley and is located in Hardman Street, Poolstock, Wigan. The church is constructed from coursed squared sandstone with slate roofs and is built in the Decorated style.

The plan consists of a nave with a west tower, north and south aisles, a chancel with a south chapel, and a north vestry. The large five-stage west tower features a segmental-pointed west doorway with double doors and ornamental strap hinges, a 4-light traceried west window, a crocketed niche containing the date "1866", clockfaces, belfry windows with stone louvres, and a pierced parapet with crocketed pinnacles. The nave and aisles have cavetto cornices with grotesques, and embattled parapets. The nave’s clerestory contains coupled segmental-pointed 2-light windows with tracery, and the aisles have buttressed 3-light windows. A large gabled porch is located in the second bay of the south aisle, featuring a moulded doorway with semi-columns, ball-flower ornament, and a hood-mould with figured stops. The chancel has diagonal buttresses and a parapet of pierced trefoils, with a geometrical rose window and a large 5-light east window with wheel tracery.

The interior features tall arcades with slender columns of alternating quatrefoil and octagonal forms, each with unique carved capitals. The arches have moulded hood-moulds with figured stops. The clerestory windows are paired and revealed with free-standing shafts. Arch-braced king post roof trusses are supported by carved angel corbels, and the chancel boasts a richly-decorated reredos, carved stone panels, and frescoes with painted figures on gilded ground. Stained glass by Hardman of Birmingham is found in the chancel and chapel.

The church was founded by James and Nathaniel Eckersley.