Church Of St James

Church of St James

A church of 14th-century origins, substantially rebuilt and enlarged in the 15th and early 16th centuries, with further alterations and additions in the 19th century. The building is constructed in squared coursed lias stone with sandstone dressings. The chancel, nave and tower feature this material, whilst the clerestory and spire are built in sandstone ashlar. The roofs employ fish-scale tile to the chancel and porch, with lead covering the nave.

The church comprises a chancel with a north aisle, a nave with both north and south aisles, and a west tower.

The chancel originates from the 14th century but was substantially rebuilt in the 15th century. It consists of three bays with a moulded plinth and offset buttresses. The eaves cornice is chamfered and a coped gable to the east culminates in a cross. The east window, restored in the 19th century, contains four cusped lights with curvilinear tracery, all set within a moulded surround. Three part-restored 15th-century windows to the south each contain three cusped and ogee-headed lights with moulded surrounds. The central window has been truncated and now features a restored ogee-headed doorway below it with a plank door.

A 19th-century north aisle of two bays adjoins the chancel, containing two windows to the north, each with two ogee-headed lights and trefoil tracery. A 19th-century vestry lies to the east, featuring one 13th-century style three-light window and one 13th-century style lancet to the north. A small 20th-century kitchen extension in lias and sandstone has been added to the north.

The nave originates from the 14th century but the aisles were widened in the 15th century. An early 16th-century clerestory was added. The nave comprises four bays; the aisles have chamfered plinths and offset buttresses. The south aisle features a hollow-chamfered eaves cornice with paterae. The nave itself has a parapetted roof with a moulded eaves cornice.

The north aisle has two 15th-century windows to the east of the porch, each containing three ogee-headed lights within square-headed chamfered surrounds. A 19th-century restored window to the west of the porch contains two cusped lights and tracery. A 19th-century window in the west wall of the north aisle has two cusped lights and curvilinear tracery. A 19th-century gabled porch, with offset buttresses and a coped gable on kneelers, features a plank door within a moulded pointed-headed surround with hood mould and labels. Trefoiled lancets appear to the east and west. A re-used doorway of two orders is incorporated, with an inner roll featuring small moulded capitals, hood mould with carved foliage labels, and a 19th-century plank door.

The south aisle contains three windows to the south. The window towards the east is 19th-century, executed in 15th-century style with three cusped lights within a segmental pointed-headed surround. Restored windows to the east and west of the porch each have two cusped lights with 15th-century tracery. Two further windows display three lights with tracery and segmental pointed-headed surrounds. A 19th-century window in the west wall contains three cusped lights and reticulated tracery. A 19th-century gabled porch with a moulded plinth and hollow-chamfered eaves cornice with paterae features double plank doors within a pointed, moulded arch supported by columns with carved foliage capitals and moulded bases. A re-used pointed-arched doorway with moulded surround is also present. North and south windows feature two 13th-century style lancets each.

The clerestory, constructed in the early 16th century, comprises eight windows. Each window contains two scalloped lights with four trefoiled tracery lights, all within hollow-moulded, four-centred-head surrounds with a continuous hood mould. Scalloped panel tracery appears below each window.

The tower is of 14th-century date and rises in three stages with a moulded plinth. Large offset diagonal buttresses rise to the top, with a string course at the second stage and a hollow-moulded eaves cornice featuring carved heads. A part-restored 14th-century window to the first stage contains two cusped lights within an ogee-headed surround. A 16th-century west door immediately below features a moulded shoulder-arched surround and a 19th-century plank door. Two-light windows with moulded surrounds appear on all faces of the third stage, with a pointed light to the south face of the second stage. The 15th-century octagonal broach spire, part rebuilt at the top, features pinnacles on the broaches and two tiers of lucarnes.

Interior

Beneath the east window of the chancel stands a 19th-century stone-panelled reredos. The south windows have moulded rere-arches. A 19th-century north aisle arcade comprises two bays. An ogee-headed piscina is present, alongside a 14th-century rood-loft doorway. The north aisle roof, rebuilt in the 19th century, features open trusses.

A 15th-century double-chamfered chancel arch spans the junction between chancel and nave. The nave arcade consists of four bays with double-chamfered arches and octagonal piers with moulded bases and capitals. Hood moulds feature 19th-century carved head labels. The clerestory includes panelled tracery below the windows, echoing the exterior.

The early 16th-century roof features moulded tie-beams, moulded rafters and moulded purlins. Carved wood bosses depict Tudor roses, angels and foliage. Traceried brackets support the tie beams and rest on carved head and angel corbels. A double-chamfered tower arch marks the entrance to the tower. The south aisle roof incorporates 17th-century chamfered beams.

Two moulded, pointed-arched tomb recesses appear in the south aisle wall. A 14th-century ogee-headed piscina with fluted basin is also located here. Fragments of medieval wall painting survive on the west wall. A 17th-century polygonal pulpit, part-restored, features carved tracery panels. A 19th and 20th-century screen with rood loft replaces an earlier screen.

Flooring includes 18th-century floor slabs in the chancel and 18th and 19th-century floor slabs in the nave. Wall tablets in the south aisle commemorate the Wood family (late 18th century) and members of the Barnacle family (died 1741 and 1781); another, dated 1745, carries a carved surround. A wall tablet in the north aisle commemorates Daniel and Martha Attrick, who died in 1765 and 1772 respectively. Two 17th-century chests, one dated 1620, remain in the nave. A 19th-century polygonal pulpit occupies the south aisle.