Old Church Of St James

The Old Church of St James is a church, now vested in the Redundant Churches Fund, dating probably to the 12th century. It is situated on a prominent hilltop overlooking the Lea marshes. The nave was likely built in the 12th century, the chancel without structural division in the 13th century, and the west tower and south porch were added in the 15th century. A large northeast brick chapel was constructed in 1577, as indicated by a relief panel on its east gable.

The church is primarily constructed of flint rubble, incorporating Roman tiles, with 16th-century brickwork in the northeast chapel and east end of the chancel, and stone dressings. The roofs are covered with old red tiles, with a continuous roof extending over the nave and chancel. A short leaded spire sits atop the building, with tiled lower slopes. The south porch is timber-framed with cusped bargeboards, a three-centred arched entrance, and a crown-post roof resting on cambered tie-beams. A 13th-century south door features two chamfered orders, and a window to the west, originally 13th-century, was altered in the 15th century when two two-light traceried windows were inserted to the east of the porch. A blocked doorway is present in the north wall of the nave.

The 15th-century crown-post roof, extending over three bays of the nave, is plastered under the collars. It continues over two bays of the chancel, which features a cambered tie beam but lacks a crown post. A lower section of a 15th-century screen is incorporated into the pews. The chancel contains a 15th-century three-light east window, a four-bay north arcade resting on octagonal piers (three western bays date to 1577, the eastern bay is later), two 15th-century two-light windows in the south wall, and a 13th-century double piscina. The northeast chapel has a plastered waggon roof, a perpendicular east window of three four-centred lights under a four-centred arch, two straight-headed two-light north windows beneath hoodmoulds, and a small west door.

The west tower is tall and two-stage, featuring diagonal buttresses and a projecting polygonal southeast stair turret rising above the parapet. The early 15th-century tower arch has two moulded orders with shafted jambs and moulded caps. A contemporary west door also features two moulded orders, with the outer order square, a three-light window above the door, and two-light bell chamber openings with quatrefoils and hood moulds.

Notable fittings include a 13th-century circular font on an octagonal 15th-century pedestal. There is a 16th-century two-decker pulpit with an inlaid tester which now serves as a door in the tower screen. Heraldic stained glass, dated 1573, is found in the northeast chapel along with Royal Arms and commandment boards on the east wall. Other items include three hatchments, a tortoise stove, a medieval south door, a claimed 15th-century head of the tower screen (likely a rood beam), a wall monument to Sir Edward Baeshe (1587) on the north wall of the chapel, and painted inscriptions on the north and east walls. Brasses are located in the chancel and nave. The church also holds three bells dated 1605, 1617, and 1790. Two wall monuments by the younger Bacon commemorate Paul Fielde (1805) and Robert Jocelyn (1806). Tablets in the nave include those for Philip Booth (1818) by Bacon and Manning, H T Baucutt Nash (1825) by Kendrick, Mary Booth (1848), and Sir Felix Booth (1850) both by Manning. The whitewashed interior retains box pews and a nave pulpit on the south wall, preserving the 18th-century village character.