Church Of St James The Great

The Church of St James the Great is a small church with origins dating back to the 12th century. It displays architectural features from the 12th, 14th, 15th, and 19th centuries, with significant restoration work carried out in 1860 by William White. The church is constructed from squared coursed ironstone.

Original 12th-century elements include the south doorway and a three-bay north arcade. A chancel, likely extended in the 14th or 15th century, and a 14th-century west tower are also present. A south porch was added in the 15th century and largely rebuilt during the 1860 restoration, which also saw the north aisle almost entirely rebuilt. The church is composed of a nave, north aisle, south porch, west tower, and chancel. It has four windows along its north side.

The west tower is low with a saddleback roof of stone slate on the south side and C20 tile on the north. The nave, chancel, and north aisle have C20-tile roofs. The chancel has a painted arched priest's doorway with a plank door and weathered head, alongside a renewed three-light window with intersecting tracery. The chancel and nave typically feature 2- and 3-light lancet windows, mostly restored or renewed by William White. The chancel has two buttresses and a stone-coped gable. The south porch has a stone slate roof and a pointed arched doorway with moulded jambs, leading to a plank door with strap hinges. The north aisle has stone and triple lancet windows. Remains of a 14th-century stone chimney stack are visible, though the interior fireplace is gone.

Internally, the church has C19 Queen strut roofs. The north arcade consists of three short round piers with capitals carved with flat upright leaves. A corbel with nailhead decoration leads from the north aisle to a small chapel, which has three openings, including a squint, a 13th-century arch, and a doorway that was once external. The fittings and furnishings are largely from the 1860 restoration, including a piscina, sedilia, pews, pulpit, reading desk, and font. Stained glass in the east window dates to the 1860s and is by Wailes of Newcastle. South chancel windows are from the 1860s by Lavers and Barraud.