Church of St James

Church of St James

Church, 1858, designed by G G Scott in conjunction with Lord Grimthorpe (then Sir Edmund Beckett Denison, whose father was chairman of shareholders of the Great Northern Railway for whom it was built). The bellcote was raised in 1860. The building is in the Geometric style, constructed in Ancaster stone with plain tile roofs featuring crested ridge tiles.

The church plan consists of two parallel ranges running north-south, comprising nave and chancel, with an eastern porch and central tower to the south. A deep moulded plinth runs throughout, with offset buttresses between all bays; those to the north end are gableted. A continuous sill band is present.

The east elevation features a steeply pitched gabled porch to the south with a moulded pointed arch and roll moulded soffit on attached shafts with moulded capitals, all below a hoodmould with head stops. Above in the gable is a carved trefoil motif in a moulded circular surround, with a stone coped gable and ridge cross. Twin cusped lancets flank the sides of the porch. The interior of the porch has a triple chamfered pointed doorcase with an outer arch on nookshafts and a hood with foliage stops over. Caernarvon arches with central columns sit in front of side windows. To the left of the porch is a trefoil headed lancet with foliage stops to the hoodmould. To the right are five tall pointed traceried 3-light windows with chamfered sills and continuous hoodmoulds, broken only by buttresses. Moulded eaves brackets are present.

The north end has twin gables. The eastern gable contains a large 6-light pointed window in a deep double chamfered surround with elaborate tracery and hoodmould, with a small quatrefoil window in a circular surround at the top of the gable. The western gable has a blind arcade of five trefoiled arches on attached shafts below a continuous hood, with a large rose window above and a similar quatrefoil window above that. Stone copings on gableted kneelers with ridge crosses complete this elevation.

The west elevation is similar to the eastern one but features six windows and a small advanced pointed doorcase into the chancel to the north.

The south elevation has twin gables matching the north elevation but with a bell turret between the gables and a lean-to vestry against the western gable. The vestry has a pointed east door and four four-centred arched windows with hoodmoulds to the south. Above is a similar blind arcade to that on the north, but with a taller, wider central arch housing a pointed 2-light traceried window. A small quatrefoil window sits at the top of the gable with stone copings on gableted kneelers. The east gable has a large traceried 5-light pointed window with hoodmould and a small trefoil window at the top of the gable, with stone copings and a ridge cross.

All nave and chancel windows feature Geometric tracery.

The tower has set back buttresses to its square base and a trefoil headed lancet in a pointed surround with hoodmould on the south side. The corners taper above this into an octagonal bell stage with louvred trefoil headed openings in elaborate surrounds of four orders, arches sitting on thin colonnettes with foliage capitals. A continuous hoodmould with large carved stops runs above. A ballflower cornice with corner gargoyles sits at the top, and the spire above is decorated with bands of blind quatrefoils.

The interior has a central six-bay arcade with double chamfered arches on columns with foliage capitals and a continuous hoodmould with foliage stops, except for a compound pier between the fourth and fifth bays, a compound respond to the northern bay, and an octagonal respond to the southern bay. The compound pier has wall shafts rising to support large arched braced trusses to both sides, which define the chancels. The roofs elsewhere have scissor trusses. North windows have inner arches on colonnettes and hoodmoulds. The eastern nave has a double chamfered priests door to bay 5, a large organ to the north end, and a tall double chamfered pointed arch on octagonal responds with hoodmould to the south end, supporting the bell turret. A trefoil headed lancet is positioned to the side. The chancel contains a carved oak reredos of 1875 with blind arcading. The western nave has an octagonal pulpit and a circular stone font on granite colonnettes.