Church Of St James

The Church of St James is a parish church largely dating to 1760, with extensions and alterations in 1823 by G.S. Repton and a restoration in 1896 by W.E. Mills. The church is constructed of limestone ashlar on the north and east sides, regularly coursed and dressed rubble on the south, and rendered on the west, with a stone slate roof and coped verges with projecting kneelers. The building comprises a nave, chancel, transepts, a north-east vestry, and a south-west porch.

The north side of the nave features round-headed windows, likely dating to the 18th or early 19th century, with moulded architraves, plain imposts, and projecting keystones. A central entrance has a 6-panel door with a matching architrave and leaded fanlight, approached by three steps. The south side of the nave has three similar round-headed windows with simpler architraves. The porch, added in 1823, has a moulded cornice and embattled parapet. It features paired pointed Gothic windows with dripstone to the east, a blind pointed opening to the south, and a pointed doorway with a Gothic panelled door, accessed by a flight of steps on the west. A moulded impost band runs along the pointed doorway and blind opening, with a moulded plinth extending around the other sides. A blind mock gun-loop sits above the doorway on the west side. The north transept, also from 1823, contains three stepped round-headed windows (added in 1896) and a gabled bellcote (also dating to 1896) with a round-headed opening. A single-light round-headed window is present in the east wall. The south transept showcases a round-arched leaded window with an inner round-headed arch connected to the outer arch by transoms and radiating mullions near the top. The hip-roofed vestry, situated in the angle to the east, has a single-light round-headed window on its south wall.

The chancel has a chamfered plinth and a semi-circular hoodmould over a low-relief roundel adorned with a Maltese cross. The east wall incorporates a round-headed window mirroring that in the south transept, with a stone cross atop the gable. The 1896 restoration significantly altered the interior. Late 19th-century features include nave benches, choir stalls, an octagonal font, and a wooden pulpit. Plastered barrel-vaulted roofs cover the nave, chancel, and transepts, with a plain quadripartite vault present at the crossing. Late 19th-century communion rails include 18th-century barley sugar balusters with sprouting foliage carvings at their bases. The church lacks any significant monuments. The church is not directly connected to the porch. An engraving by Joseph Skelton, dating to 1823, depicts the church prior to the 1823 remodelling.