Church Of St James

Church of St James, Norton Canes

This is a parish church built in 1832–33 by the Lichfield architects James Trubshaw and Thomas Johnson, substantially rebuilt after a fire in 1888 by the Birmingham architects Frank Osborn and Alfred Reading.

The building is constructed of coursed, dressed local sandstone with tile roofs renewed in the early 21st century, except for the older tile roof of the porch. The plan comprises a nave with north aisle and transept, a lower and narrower chancel, a west tower, a south porch, and a two-storey north vestry and organ chamber.

The exterior displays Perpendicular Gothic style with buttresses, coped gables, and a plain corbel table. Windows are fitted with hood moulds and head stops. The five-bay nave has two-light windows, with a porch in the second bay featuring continuous moulding to the doorway. The north aisle contains three similar windows, and the transept has a three-light north window. The chancel is lit by a three-light east window and two two-light south windows. The three-stage tower has diagonal buttresses carried up as pinnacles to an embattled parapet. It contains a two-light west window, a one-light south window, narrow square-headed windows in the second stage, and pairs of two-light bell openings with louvres. The vestry has straight-headed three-light and two-light mullioned windows in both storeys.

The interior of the nave features a five-bay hammer-beam roof with moulded tie-beams and posts between the hammer beams. The aisle roof has arched braces on corbels, and the transept roof comprises a single truss similar to the nave structure. The tower arch has polygonal responds, and the chancel arch is double-chamfered with an inner order on polygonal shafts. The chancel itself has a keeled boarded wagon roof with thin moulded ribs. Walls throughout are plastered, and floors are laid in wood blocks.

Most furnishings date from the rebuilding following the 1888 fire. The octagonal font is executed in Perpendicular style and forms a pair with the stone pulpit, which features blind arcading with Christian symbols. Benches have panelled ends and diagonal boarding to the backs, while choir stalls at the east end of the nave are similar but with frontals of open arcading. The wooden communion rail has iron standards with scrollwork brackets. A Gothic reredos with blind panels incorporates original 1832 plaques bearing the Commandments, Apostle's Creed, and Lord's Prayer. North and south sanctuary walls display a decorative tile dado. The north organ gallery has an open arcaded front matching the choir stall frontals.

Among the church's monuments is one brought from the earlier building: an oval wall tablet to Thomas Fowke (died 1691), decorated with cherubs and fleur-de-lis. Other memorials are 19th century, including a neo-classical tablet to Phineas Hussey (died 1833) by B.J. Evans, depicting a seated female mourner beneath a pediment, and a Gothic wall tablet to William Harrison (died 1877) by James Forsyth.

The church originated as a replacement for an older building, constructed in 1832–33 by Trubshaw and Johnson. The original design comprised an aisleless church with tower, porch, short chancel, and west gallery. The fire of 1888 prompted a substantial reconstruction by Osborn and Reading, who added a north aisle, transept, and vestry, and lengthened the chancel. At this time the original furnishings were replaced and the west gallery was removed. The church stands close to Fradswell Hall.