Church Of St James

The Church of St James is a parish church dating from 1863, designed by James Fowler in the Neo-Norman style. It is constructed of rock-faced limestone with a slate roof, featuring decorative ridge tiles. The building consists of a nave, a western bellcote and porch, and an apsidal chancel.

The west end is characterised by clasping buttresses and two moulded strings. The gabled porch features a latticed design in the gable and a cross fleury. The roll-moulded round-headed outer arch incorporates angle shafts with waterleaf capitals, while the plainer inner doorway is similarly styled. Above the porch is an elaborate octofoil window with radiating spokes featuring figured capitals, scalloped heads, a zigzag surround, and a carved beast's head at the apex. A projecting hexagonal bellcote topped with an ashlar spire has an elaborately corbelled base with stiff leaf foliage and Caernarvon arched openings with mid-wall shafts and scalloped capitals. The nave side walls have plinths, cill bands with pilasters, head bands, and moulded corbelled eaves, with three round-headed chamfered windows to the south and two similar windows to the north. The apsidal chancel is similarly detailed and includes three windows. A gabled vestry on the north side has a matching window.

Internally, the walls are fair-faced yellow brickwork with red brick and red stone bands, ashlar dressings, and a roll-moulded sill band. The splayed rear arches of the windows are striped alternately in red and yellow. A reused 12th-century round-headed arch with chamfered imposts serves as the north door to the vestry. The chancel arch springs from tapering annular corbels with square imposts of stiff leaf design, the roll-moulded and filleted arch featuring alternating red and yellow voussoirs. In the chancel, a reset aumbry is accompanied by a tiled mosaic reredos, displaying Alpha, Omega and a cross in circles. Minton tiled floors are present throughout. Fittings include a panelled ashlar pulpit with foliate columns and scalloped corbels, along with wooden furnishings and an altar rail, all in the Neo-Norman style. A good 14th-century octagonal font with a moulded base and trefoil traceried panels to the bowl is also included. Furthermore, a late Greek Revival wall monument of 1854, dedicated to James Mason, is found, featuring a pedimented panel with acanthus brackets and a depiction of the Dove of the Spirit.