Church Of St James

The Church of St James is a Grade II* listed building located in Colwall. It dates back to the 12th century, with additions made by architect H. Woodyer in 1865. The church is constructed from grey, brown, and red sandstone and features tiled roofs. It has a five-bay nave with a south aisle, a chancel, and a vestry designed by Woodyer. The southwest tower, dating from the 14th to 15th century, is built in three stages and includes diagonal buttresses and offsets. The east wall of the tower shows scars of three lancets approximately eight feet above the ground, which are said to have once held a statue of a pieta.

The south porch, likely from the 17th century, is timber-framed and has an ogee-headed wicket gate. The south aisle features restored 13th-century 'Y' tracery and lancets, while the west nave window consists of three trefoil-headed lights. The south entrance is adorned with late 13th-century trumpet capitals and roll moulding above a beaded and studded medieval door.

Inside, the nave consists of five bays supported by cylindrical columns in the south arcade, with the three western capitals made of grey stone featuring heads among stiff-leaves. The north arcade was added in 1880. The nave roof, possibly from the 16th century, has a double collar design supported by arch-braces and two rows of wind-braces, with the lower row being cusped on the underside. An inserted tie-beam at the junction of the first and second bay from the east is inscribed with "RM RC/1675," indicating restoration. The font, heavily re-cut, is likely from the 13th century.

The western part of the south aisle contains two sets of wind-braces, a 18th-century hatchment, and a brass plaque commemorating Elizabeth Harford, dated 1590. There are also fragments of late medieval stained glass in the head of the east window. The pulpit, which has a tester, was heavily restored in the early 17th century. The three-bay chancel features a 19th-century arch-brace roof, a piscina, and a 'muscular' trefoiled sedile. The north aisle includes tiles in the north wall, likely from the late 13th century, indicating the labour for the month of March from Malvern tile works. The 19th-century pews are inscribed on the back as 'Grocers' School' for local pupils. The design of the wind-braces in the nave roof is very similar to that of the Church of St John in Mathon, which also has a similar but unsigned and undated tie-beam.