Church Of St James

Church of St James

Parish church. The building dates from the 11th century with major phases of work in around 1200, the 13th century, 14th century, 17th century and 19th century. It is built of coursed limestone rubble with ashlar detailing, and has slate and lead roofs. The plan comprises a western tower, nave with clerestory, aisles, south porch and chapel, chancel and vestry.

The tower is a three-stage 13th-century structure in coursed limestone rubble. It has a plinth and two chamfered string courses. Above rises a broach spire with two sets of alternating lucarnes, the lower set having double pointed openings, with gables surmounted by crosses. The bell openings contain paired lights with Y tracery, double chamfered surrounds and hoods. On the south and north sides of the second stage is a 13th-century lancet window with hood mould. In the west wall is a two-light Y tracery window with hood mould.

A 19th-century vestry was added on the north side. It has a plain tiled roof, a three-light mullioned window and a pointed doorway. The north wall of the north aisle contains an early 17th-century three-light chamfered mullioned window with chamfered surround and hood mould. In the east wall is a two-light 14th-century window with cusped heads to the lights and quatrefoil above. The north-east angle of the nave displays exposed 11th-century long and short work.

The ashlar clerestory is battlemented with pairs of two-light openings having trefoil heads to the lights and four-centred arched surrounds with hood moulds. On the south side is an additional single-light window with cusped head and four-centred arch.

The chancel has a stone-coped slate roof. The north wall contains a small two-light Y-traceried window. The east window is of three lights with cusped heads and restored 14th-century curvilinear tracery to the head. The south window to the chancel is a 16th-century single light in a deeply set concave four-centred arched surround with cusped head.

The tall south chapel has a low-pitched lead roof and stepped corner buttresses. It features a plinth and string course with a three-light window having cusped heads to the lights, triangular head and steeply pointed hood with human head stops rising to a crocketed pinnacle at the roof gable. In the south aisle is a two-light window with geometric tracery and hood mould.

The gabled south porch has a pair of heads to each eaves. The outer doorway is double-chamfered and pointed, with angle shafts and capitals with debased naturalistic foliage. The porch has side benches and a steeply pointed inner doorway with recut single-chamfered arch.

Interior

The nave has two-bay arcades dating to around 1200. The north arcade has circular piers and responds with double-chamfered arches and hood moulds. The hood mould carries nail head decoration, the imposts are octagonal abaci. The south aisle has debased stiff-leaf carving to the capitals only.

The 13th-century tower arch is triple-chamfered, with the outer two orders continuous and inner octagonal responds and imposts. The south aisle has at its eastern end a double-chamfered arch to the chapel with semi-circular responds matching the south aisle. The 13th-century chancel arch has two roll-moulded orders and hood mould, with chamfered responds bearing triple short shafts with stiff-leaf capitals and annular bases on tall chamfered plinth. A further archway from the chancel to the south chapel matches that from the south aisle. A piscina in the chancel's south wall has a pointed head.

In the south chapel's east wall is a blocked pointed window opening. In the nave's south wall beneath the window is a 14th-century composition of a double piscina with cusped trefoil above, paired pointed-arched sedilia with central shaft having naturalistic capital, and hood mould with central human head carving. The adjacent priest's door has a pointed rear arch with hood mould and human head stop. The south-east angle of the nave displays exposed 11th-century long and short work.

Fittings and Monuments

All fittings are 19th century except for a 17th-century oak chest and a fine 14th-century octagonal font with cusped panels to the bowl and richly ornamental octagonal stem.

Built into the north wall of the chancel are two fine 13th-century grave slabs with crosses fleury, one re-used in memory of John Bowfield, died 1730. Two stained-glass windows commemorate the Reverend Charles Hudson, vicar, killed on the Matterhorn in 1865.