Church Of St James

Church of St James, Long Marston

This is a medieval parish church dating from the 14th century, with later additions and restorations. The building comprises a two-bay chancel and three-bay nave, with a 16th-century porch and restored 16th-century bell turret to the west.

The church is constructed of narrow coursed limestone rubble with ashlar dressings and is roofed with graduated stone slate. The porch and bell turret are timber-framed.

The chancel is gabled with coping and a cross finial. Its south wall contains an offset diagonal buttress flanking angle buttresses on either side of a three-light window with Perpendicular tracery. The north and south walls each have two windows of two traceried lights, and there is a round-headed priest's entrance on the north side with a plain surround featuring beading and enriched imposts, with a fielded-panel key block above a plank door.

The nave has alternately wide and narrow courses of stone. On the north side is an offset buttress to the left of a gabled porch, which has close-studded timber framing on a limestone plinth. The porch entrance features a three-centred head with renewed spandrels and a renewed plank door with strap hinges, and three-light windows to the returns. Two single-chamfered traceried nave windows of two lights are also present on this side.

The south wall of the nave has patches of ashlar and four offset buttresses—the westernmost on a plinth and the easternmost diagonal. It contains a small two-light window to the west and two larger two-light windows with 14th-century tracery and hoods. A scratch dial appears at the east end. A wall monument to Mary Tomes, died 1751, is positioned at the short east return to the north, comprising a worn slab with tapering pilasters, an entablature with pulvinated frieze, and a pediment.

The west end has two tall offset buttresses and lower angle buttresses, with a two-light single-chamfered traceried window. The timber-framed bell turret features close-studded framing and a saddleback roof with three-light louvred bell openings and a weather cock.

Internally, the chancel roof is a tie beam with collar rafter construction, arch-braced queen posts and wind braces. The chancel arch is rebated with continuous chamfer. A segmental-headed piscina recess with remains of a projecting bowl is present on the south wall.

The nave has a collar rafter roof with ashlaring. A plastered timber-framed partition wall at the west end has exposed close studding over two tall timber posts at the centre, forming an open space below the bell turret. This space has battened panelling to the returns with plank doors and a high opening to the south fitted with turned balusters.

The porch roof features wind braces and one arch-braced collar truss, with a plain rebated inner door and stone benches.

Fittings include a 19th-century chancel altar rail and candelabra with plain stalls, an early 17th-century pulpit with enriched round-headed panels, plain 19th-century nave stalls with candelabra, a circular font on a traceried base, and an ex-situ stone altar slab on four tapering supports.

Monuments in the chancel include three brass plates on the north wall commemorating Joan, Dorothea and Elizabeth Cooper, died 1658, 1650 and 1657 respectively, and a floor slab to Richard Day, died 1697, with a scrolly frame and armorial bearing. The porch contains a floor slab to Elizabeth Goodin, died 1732.

The chancel east window contains medieval stained glass fragments, while other chancel windows have small 19th-century roundels.

The church is set in an attractive location and is notable for its unusual timber-framed bell turret.