Church Of St James

The Church of St James is a parish church dating back to the 12th century, with substantial restoration work carried out in 1859-61 by Bodley. The exterior is largely 19th century in appearance. The church comprises a continuous nave and chancel, a south aisle to the nave, a west tower, a south porch, a north vestry, and a north aisle. The walls are smoothly ashlared chalk, faced externally with cement render and closely-packed flint chippings, with stone dressings, and the roof is slate.

The west tower is of two stages, with the base canted to the west and lighter flint chippings to the upper stage, topped with a pyramidal roof. It features bold quatrefoil belfry lights set in circles and a tall west lancet window. The south porch is built on a plinth, with a chamfered 2-centred arched opening, apparently without a fitted door. The original inner door to the church features a 2-centred arched head, hollow chamfer and broach stops, and is fitted with stylised fleur-de-lys hinges. The south aisle has a single cusped east window. The chancel includes a 2-light window on the south wall with an idiosyncratic trefoil above. The east window has two quatrefoiled and one trefoiled light in circles within a head above three pointed lights. The north vestry has an east door with a square head, jambs, and keel-like moulding, with the stone continuing above the door as flushwork forming a 2-centred arch. It also features a low, square-headed, four-light north window. The north aisle displays a north window of two round-headed lights with trefoiled inner heads and simple incised decoration, and a west window beneath a round head with two low painted lights below a heavy sexfoil rose. The nave includes a large quatrefoil light within a circle in the gable, with two lancets below, and a blocked round-headed tufa doorway, likely inset in the 19th century with a contemporary stone surround.

Inside, there are two-bay north and south arcades, and a tower arch, all with round-headed arches and large rectangular piers with scalloped imposts. The vestry door has large 19th-century fleur-de-lys hinges. A low pulpit and a low, panelled screen separate the nave and chancel, both of 19th-century origin, with panels lightly carved in relief displaying medieval-inspired tracery. A large pink and grey marble font, similar to that at Hucking, is present. The nave and chancel are linked by a crenellated tie-beam with quatrefoil spandrels, supporting a large cross which extends to the apex of the roof, braced in narrow diamond patterns. A tapering tomb slab with a brass cross inlaid is located in the west end of the south aisle. A plain, rectangular stone wall monument, with a recessed panel, is found in the vestry, dedicated to Elizabeth Elward, who died in 1676.