Spital Chapel of St James is a Grade II* listed building in the Tamworth local planning authority area, England. First listed on 11 May 1950. A C12 Chapel. 1 related planning application.

Spital Chapel of St James

WRENN ID
late-mullion-sedge
Grade
II*
Local Planning Authority
Tamworth
Constituency
Tamworth MP: Sarah Edwards (Lab)
Country
England
Date first listed
11 May 1950
Type
Chapel
Address
Spital Chapel of St James, Ashby Road
OS grid reference
SK 208 050
Coordinates
52.64257, -1.69287
Source
Historic England listing

Also on this page: related consents · flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

The Spital Chapel of St. James is a former chantry chapel that was converted into a barn during the Reformation and was dedicated for worship in 1914. It dates from the mid to late 12th century, possibly built on earlier foundations, with rebuilding in the 13th century and extensive restoration carried out between 1909 and 1914. The building is constructed of stone rubble and coursed squared stone with ashlar dressings, topped with tile roofs.

The chapel features a small chancel and nave. The chancel has a coped gable with kneelers and an east window with round-headed lights and renewed mullions. The nave includes a round-headed north entrance with plain reveals and a plank door, along with signs of a blocked 12th-century entrance to the left. There is an early 13th-century pointed-arched south entrance, which may have been relocated or reconstructed, featuring a moulded arch of one order with missing shafts but remaining shaft rings, and an inner keeled roll moulding, along with a plank door. To the right, there is a window with two pointed lights and a recess below, possibly a blocked entrance. The west wall was rebuilt in 1914 and includes two lancets.

Inside, the chapel has a 16th or early 17th-century tie beam and arch-braced collar roof with double purlins and some renewed members, with ashlaring in the chancel. The round chancel arch has impost bands, and the east wall of the chancel features a plaque recording the restoration. A 20th-century altar table with cusped arched panels and an altar rail on timber posts is present. Historical records indicate that a chantry or hospital was founded by Sir Philip Marmion between 1266 and 1275, and the building is believed to have served as a hospital during the Black Death in 1349.

Local climate

Spital Chapel of St James receives an average of 780 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 62% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 73% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 38 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 72% of listed buildings. Of these, 18 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.

Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.

More on this building

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  • No EPC on record for this property
  • No sale records on file
  • Related listed building consents — 1 application
  • Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
  • Flood risk assessment
  • Radon risk assessment
  • Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
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