Church Of St James

The Church of St James is a parish church with origins in the 12th century. The chancel and chapel date to the 14th century, and the west tower was built in the 15th century. The church underwent restoration and additions in 1888 by St Aubyn, with a south porch added in 1899. It is constructed mainly of flint, with a plain tiled nave roof and a slated chancel roof.

The church consists of a chancel, north chapel, nave with a north aisle and south chapel, a south porch, and a west tower. The three-stage west tower has a plinth with string courses and battlements, with diagonal buttresses set back three times. A south-eastern stair turret rises to an octagonal upper section topped with a spirelet. The tower features 15th-century Perpendicular traceried windows and a three-light western window in a four-centered arched surround. There is a western doorway with roll moulding and a hollow chamfer, alongside a roll-moulded hood. A half-timbered and glazed south porch provides access, and a 12th-century south doorway features a round arch on imposts, with an external holy water stoup. The south wall of the nave has exposed jambs to a 12th-century Romanesque window, later altered by 14th-century fenestration. The south chapel is nearly free-standing, buttressed, and largely 19th-century in appearance. The chancel walls are higher than the nave, with a low-pitched slated roof. The chancel’s fenestration is 14th-century with the exception of a 19th-century Perpendicular-style east window. The north aisle incorporates a reset 14th-century east window, otherwise largely 19th century. A mouchette wheel, with bead ornament on the tracery bars, is set into the east gable of the nave.

Internally, a hollow-chamfered arch and surround, supported on attached piers with octagonal capitals marks the tower. A hollow-chamfered stair door is located to the south-west. Exposed jambs from 12th-century windows are visible in the north and south nave walls. A three-bay north arcade, in St Aubyn's Decorated style, leads to the north aisle. The nave roof has four crown posts, with the two end posts raised. A two-bay triple-chamfered arcade, on central octagonal piers with attached columns, serves the south chapel. A double-chamfered arch opens to the chancel and another to the north chapel. The north chapel roof features three crown posts and an embattled wall plate. Fittings include a moulded piscina in the chancel and a cusped ogee-headed piscina in the north chapel. The south chapel is fitted with 18th-century box pews featuring raised and fielded panels. A wall monument commemorates Lewis Watkin, Baron Sondes, who died in 1836, displaying a white marble sarcophagus on a black background, topped with a scalped achievement, signed Longley, Canterbury. A late 19th-century ogee-headed wall niche honours the Munn family in the south chapel. Brass memorials include those of Sir Richard atteLees (died 1394) and his Lady Dionisia, featuring large figures under a double canopy; John and Isabel Cely (died 1426), depicted as a knight and lady; and Joan Mareys (died 1431), a half-figure rising from a shroud and holding a heart. Stained glass by Thomas Willement is found in the north and south aisles, dating to approximately 1850 and 1856 respectively.