Church Of Saint James

SE 84 NW 10/20

NUNBURNHOLME, CHURCH LANE (east side), Church of Saint James

26.1.67

I

Church. C12 nave, early C13 chancel, restored 1873 by George Gilbert Scott (1839-97), west tower and south porch by Temple Moore c1902. Ashlar, plain tile roofs. West tower, 3-bay nave with south porch, 2-bay chancel. West tower: chamfered plinth, diagonal buttresses, chamfered string-courses. 2-light square-headed belfry opening with tracery in Perpendicular style under hoodmould. Crenellated parapet. 2-light pointed west window with tracery in Curvilinear style under hoodmould. Nave: chamfered plinth. 2-light square-headed window with reticulated tracery to east. Late C19 pointed south door. C12 round-headed north door with hollow-chamfered imposts, narrow chamfer, and hoodmould with face-stops; small round-headed window to east with continuous roll-moulding and head carved with centipetal arrows. Chancel: chamfered plinth. Lancet under hoodmould to west over trefoil-headed low side window closed by wooden shutter. 2-light and 3-light window to centre and east respectively, each with reticulated tracery. Pointed priests' door with continuous chamfer, 3-light pointed east window with reticulated tracery under hoodmould with head-stops. Pierced quatrefoil panel to gable. Interior: C12 chancel arch reused as tower arch: attached shafts with scallop capitals, some with volutes, some with masks and trails, supporting quirk-and-chamfer imposts and round arch of two orders, the inner with a double roll moulding to the soffit, the outer with chevron ornament. Hoodmould with naked human figure and masks. Under the tower a cross-shaft of c1000 AD consisting of two fragments fitted together: four sides with two panels to each side carved with a variety of figures both in profile and frontally presented, together with a number of foliage designs, pelta-like shapes, and beasts. C12 font, probably re-tooled, in shape of cushion capital. Chancel: tomb recess under chamfered segmental arch, and nearby ambrey, to north wall; trefoil-headed piscina to south wall. The lower half of a set of sedilia, truncated by an early C14 window, also survives in the south wall. It is speculated that the church was built as the priory church of the Benedictine nunnery of St Mary, the Scheduled Site of Nunburnholme Priory being some 800m to the north east of the church.

Listing NGR: SE8477447790