Parish Church of St James is a Grade I listed building in the Bedford local planning authority area, England. First listed on 13 July 1964. Church.
Parish Church of St James
- WRENN ID
- under-tracery-spring
- Grade
- I
- Local Planning Authority
- Bedford
- Constituency
- North Bedfordshire MP: Richard Fuller (Con)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 13 July 1964
- Type
- Church
- Address
- Parish Church of St James, Church End, Biddenham
- OS grid reference
- TL 014 499
- Coordinates
- 52.13845, -0.51965
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The Parish Church of St James is a Grade I listed building located in Biddenham. It features a chancel and an aisleless nave that have Norman origins but were rebuilt in the 14th century. A porch was added in the 15th century, and a north aisle was constructed in the early 16th century. The west tower dates back to the 13th century. The church is built of coursed limestone rubble with ashlar dressings and has clay tile roofs.
Inside, the chancel includes a 15th-century piscina and a Norman chancel arch, along with two squints. The north aisle has a two-bay arcade with four-centred arches and a six-bay Renaissance screen at the east end. There is a one-bay south aisle with a piscina located east of a two-storey porch, both featuring embattled parapets. The tower is topped with an embattled parapet and has gargoyles on the 15th-century belfry stage. The church also contains an octagonal 15th-century font and early 17th-century Boteler wall monuments in the chancel, as well as small brasses in the north aisle.
Local climate
Parish Church of St James sits in one of the driest parts of the UK, with an average of 690 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 95% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 91% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 34 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 54% of listed buildings. Of these, 15 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
- No related consent applications matched
- 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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