Church Of St James

The Church of St James is a parish church dating back to the early 14th century, with a west steeple and chancel from that period. The nave was originally 14th century but was remodelled in the 15th century and restored in 1843. The church is constructed of flint with ashlar dressings, and has slate roofs.

The three-stage tower appears externally as two stages and is supported by diagonal buttresses. It has a two-light Y tracery window above a string course. The ringing chamber features trefoiled lancet windows, and the belfry stage has two-light cusped windows. A crenellated parapet sits below an octagonal stone spire which has two tiers of lucarnes. A square stair turret is located on the south-west side, and a diagonal buttress is set against the west end of the nave. The nave has one two-light Y tracery window to the west of the north and south doors, and two three-light Perpendicular panel traceried windows to the east. An arched and moulded north door is present. A gabled porch protects the south door, featuring a four-centred arch with continuous jamb and arch mouldings, and two-light square side windows with quatrefoils in the heads. The east gable of the nave is supported by trefoiled kneelers.

The chancel has diagonal east buttresses and flat side buttresses to the north and south, with two two-light cusped windows on each side, each featuring a cusped reticulation unit in the heads. The east window is a four-light reticulated window with sunk quadrant mouldings to the jambs and arch.

Inside, the church has a triple-chamfered tower arch and a double-chamfered chancel arch. The nave is covered by a scissor-braced roof of twenty-seven trusses, with 19th-century purlins. The chancel roof is similar, with eighteen trusses. There are twenty-eight 15th-century benches with pierced backs displaying tracery patterns or geometric forms, and poppyheads with armrests carved to resemble figures or animals. A screen from the late 15th century divides the chancel, with 1 1/2 bays on each side of a central ogee opening. Each bay contains three-light Perpendicular tracery. The screen features fleurons in the cornice and arrowhead cresting along the top rail. A founder’s tomb recess is located in the north chancel wall. A cusped ogee piscina is set into the south wall, alongside a wall monument to May Colborn, dated 1683. The monument has a foliate surround enclosing a rectangular marble inscription panel, a predella featuring a skull and crossed bones, and a moulded broken pediment through which a carved and painted coat of arms projects.