Church Of St James

The Church of St James is a church with origins dating back to around 1120, featuring extensive later rebuilding, likely from the early 14th century, early to mid-18th century, and 1876, carried out by Hugh Roumieu Gough for John Dent. The building is constructed of pebbledashed brick, with the west and east ends partially revealing pinkish-red narrow brick in irregular English bond and pebbles, complemented by ashlar dressings. It has a plain tile roof and consists of a 2-bay nave with a south porch and a lower, narrower 2-bay chancel.

The west end features a 14th-century two-ogee-light window that has been partly recut. The south side of the nave has end buttresses with offsets and an ashlar plinth. A wooden south porch leads to the first bay, which contains a round-arched Norman doorway. The plain jambs of the doorway have capitals with ball moulding, supporting a round arch decorated with lozenges and zigzag moulding, and it is fitted with a 19th-century plank door. Above the doorway is an eroded shield or mask, and there is a 19th-century two-ogee-light window nearby. The north side has a similar single-light window.

The chancel's south side features a plinth with two single trefoil lights; the left light is from the 19th century, while the right light is a 14th-century window that has been partly recut, both with quoined jambs. The north side also has a plinth and a two-course eaves band, along with moulded kneelers, copings, and a cross at the apex. The east end has a chamfered plinth and a 14th-century three-stepped-ogee-light window that is partly recut.

Inside, the church has a plain interior with a pointed 19th-century chamfered chancel arch supported by moulded corbels. The east wall features a Norman column with a chevron-moulded capital and a wish-bone hood above, set into the wall. On the south side of the chancel, there is a chamfered triangular piscina. The church contains two plain tablets commemorating Christopher Hildyard, who died in 1728, and John Dawson, who died in 1801. The bell turret houses the earliest dated bell in Great Britain, dating to 1254, inscribed "WCC/- IIII". The east window features stained glass by Kempe.