Church Of St James

The Church of St. James, built between 1854 and 1855 by Ewan Christian, is a Grade II listed building located on Slater Lane in Leyland. Constructed from stone with slate roofs, it is designed in the Early English style. The church features a west tower topped with a splay-footed spire, a nave, and two aisles, each with separate roofs, creating three parallel ridges. The tower includes angle buttresses and a deeply recessed west window with a sloping sill and plate tracery, along with one belfry louvre on each side, each featuring a pointed arch and chamfered splay.

The entrance to the church is located in the center of the north aisle and includes a gabled porch with low eaves. All aisle windows, two on the north side and three on the south side, have plate tracery in two-centred arches. Both aisles and the chancel are supported by angled buttresses. The east window consists of three narrow cusped lights with plate tracery.

Inside, the three connected vessels of the nave and aisles create a square plan, interrupted only by the nave arcade, which has three two-centred arches supported by short octagonal columns that die into foliated imposts at the east and west ends. The chancel continues the nave and both areas feature an open collar rafter roof. The east wall of the chancel displays a blind arcade of trefoils. In the south aisle, there is a notable monumental effigy of Sarah Esther Farrington, who died in 1863; this effigy was originally located in the chancel along with the Farrington family pews, which have since been removed. The church was built at the expense of Mrs. Farrington, who became a widow shortly after her marriage.