Church of St James

The Church of St James is a parish chapel of ease built around 1834-1836, with a 20th-century chancel. Designed by architect William Mason and constructed by boat builders Aldous, the church is made of white brick and features a grey slate roof with pierced ridge tiles. The south gable, which faces Victoria Place, has three diamond leaded graduated chamfered lancets with labels above.

To the east, a four-stage tower is set forward, featuring a chamfered two-centred arched doorway with double vertically boarded doors. There is a band at the second stage, which includes two small chamfered lancets with labels and a corbelled cornice. The third stage is a broached octagonal shape with chamfered lancet louvres and labels on alternate faces. The tower is topped with a hipped roof that culminates in a slender belfry with narrow louvres on each face and an octagonal spire. The second stage has angle buttresses, and the returns are buttressed with lancets in between. A gabled porch with a two-centred arched doorway is located on the left return.

An iron-bracketed town clock, erected to commemorate Queen Victoria's Jubilee, is attached to the second stage of the tower. Inside, the roof is boarded above the collars, with each tie beam supporting a central iron queen post and two timber queen posts with V braces. There is a continuous balcony along the east, south, and west walls, supported by cast iron octagonal pillars with moulded capitals, featuring moulded Gothic panelling, a moulded top rail, and soffit. The interior also includes a vertically boarded dado, trefoiled heads on pew ends, an angled wooden pulpit with pierced and carved tracery, and a circular stone font with a circular stem and base. A tall chamfered two-centred arch has been cut through the rear (north) wall, leading into a simple 20th-century chapel, which contains a carved wooden figure of Christ behind the altar.