Church Of St James

The Church of St James is a parish church with fabric dating back to around 1300. The west tower was constructed in 1587 for Bishop Sandys, while the majority of the church structure was rebuilt by Thomas Rickman in 1825 and 1836-7, with further restoration work carried out in 1877. The church is primarily built of sandstone ashlar with a tile roof.

The three-stage west tower features a crenellated parapet, string courses, and diagonal buttresses. The belfry stage contains windows with two pointed lights within a three-centred head. A pedimented tablet on the west face of the tower above the porch displays the arms of Bishop Sandys and the date 1587. The west porch, designed by Rickman, is two-storied with angled buttresses and a large three-light Perpendicular style window above the entrance, defined by a two-centred head.

The nave and its north and south aisles were constructed by Rickman between 1836 and 1837 and feature a crenellated parapet, five bays divided by stepped buttresses, the fifth bay wrapping around the tower. The windows are composed of three trefoil-headed lights. The north chapel, dating to 1825, is four bays with single cinquefoil-headed light windows set within square heads, with a door and a blind window occupying the east bay. The south chapel, added in 1877, has two bays with windows of two trefoil-headed lights, alongside an east window of three lights. The chancel’s east window is of four lights under a two-centred head.

Inside the church, the nave showcases a four-bay arcade with slender sandstone piers supporting two-centred moulded arches. Plastered ribbed vaults with bosses cover both the nave and aisles. Galleries on cast iron columns with cinquefoil-headed panels run along both aisles. A two-centred moulded arch with a label defines the transition to the chancel, while similar, but lower, arches lead from the aisles into the chapels. A two-bay arcade flanks the chancel on each side; the north arcade incorporates quatrefoil columns supporting two-centred arches of 13th-century origin, though heavily restored, while the south arcade is a copy of this design from around 1877. The ceiling features a ribbed barrel vault. The church fittings are largely from the late 19th century, with a font comprising a circular C12 lower portion and a late 19th-century upper section.