Church Of St James The Great

Church of St James the Great

A church of 13th-century origin, substantially altered in the 14th century with major additions to the tower in the 15th century. The north aisle was rebuilt in 1825 and the church underwent general restoration in 1876, including probable alteration of the north aisle and the addition of the south porch. A vestry was added in 1956. The building is constructed of coursed limestone rubble and squared and coursed limestone, partly cement rendered, with ashlar dressings and stone slate roofs.

The plan consists of a two-bay nave with a two-bay north aisle and a lean-to south aisle with porch, a two-bay chancel with a north chapel, and a west tower with a 20th-century vestry in the angle to the north-west.

The tower rises in five external stages and sits on a double-chamfered plinth with a chamfered offset to the second stage. A moulded string course runs to the vestry, and a moulded parapet string with carved gargoyles supports a battlemented parapet with moulded coping. A weathervane is mounted to the north-west. The belfry openings are louvred with stone slates and feature pairs of trefoil-headed lights with transoms, quatrefoils in the tracery, chamfered reveals and returned hood moulds. The second stage has pairs of chamfered lancets to the west and north and single lancets to the south and east. The first stage contains a Tudor-arched west window of four cinquefoil-headed lights with chamfered reveals and returned hood mould. A two-storey square stair tower to the south-east has a lean-to roof, small rectangular windows, and a boarded door at its base with strap hinges. A clock is mounted on the second stage to the north.

The nave has parapeted gable ends with copings and weathering to the chancel on the east wall. A pair of 17th-century double-chamfered mullioned stone clerestory windows sits to the south. The lean-to south aisle has coped verges and a 14th-century window to the right of two cinquefoil-headed lights with quatrefoil in the tracery, moulded reveals and hood mould. A chamfered-arched south doorway to the left has a 19th-century boarded door with decorative strap hinges. A 19th-century stone porch features a chamfered archway and a parapeted gable with shaped kneelers and a cross at the apex. A 19th-century chamfered rectangular window lights the west of the aisle, and a 14th-century east window has two ogee trefoil-headed lights with quatrefoil in the tracery, chamfered reveals and hood mould.

The north aisle has a plinth and parapeted gable ends. Its tall windows feature two trefoil-headed lights with transoms, panelled tracery with quatrefoils and returned hood moulds. The west window has two round-arched lights with a monolithic semi-circular tympanum and returned hood mould.

The chancel has a plinth to the east and a parapeted gable end with coping and a cross at the apex. Its 14th-century south windows have two ogee trefoil-headed lights with reticulated tracery, chamfered reveals and returned hood mould. The 15th-century east window contains three ogee cinquefoil-headed lights with panelled tracery, hollow-chamfered reveals and returned hood mould.

The north chapel also has a plinth and a parapeted gable end to the east. A 14th-century straight-headed north window features ogee trefoil-headed lights. A 19th-century chamfered-arched doorway to the right has a hood mould and a boarded door with strap hinges. Triple-chamfered lancets light the east wall. A flat-roofed vestry to the north-west has a double-chamfered plinth, a coped parapet, and a west window of four cinquefoil-headed lights with hollow-chamfered reveals and returned hood mould.

The interior contains a 19th-century three-bay nave roof of collar and tie-beam trusses with queen struts, raking struts and pairs of purlins. The two-bay south aisle arcade comprises a central quatrefoil-section compound pier with moulded base and capital, double-chamfered arches (continuous to the left) and hood mould with carved stops. The south aisle has a painted 19th-century roof, a chamfered rear arch to the east window, a segmental rear arch to the doorway, and deeply-splayed reveals to the west window. A chamfered trefoil piscina is located to the south-east.

The 13th-century tower arch is triple-chamfered, with the inner chamfer springing from corbels, the middle chamfer dying into responds, and the outer chamfer continuous. A Caernarvon-arched doorway opens to the stair tower. A large 19th-century opening to the north aisle has double-chamfered reveals (incorporating reused fabric from the former aisle) and a wooden lintel. The three-bay north aisle roof features king-post trusses and single purlins. A round archway to the vestry stands at the west end. Ledges formerly supporting a gallery (removed in 1876) remain on the east, west and north walls.

The 13th-century chancel arch comprises three orders of shafts with stiff-leaf capitals and moulded bases, and a triple hollow-chamfered arch. The chancel has a 19th-century scissor-braced turned-rafter roof. South windows have chamfered rear arches, and the east window has a hollow-chamfered rear arch. An ogee trefoil-arched piscina to the south-east is supported by a carved corbel beneath the bowl. A blocked square north window is also present.

The north chapel contains a 15th-century low-pitched two-bay roof with a cambered tie-beam, moulded ridge piece, subsidiary cross members and plain chamfered joists, moulded wall plate and uncarved bosses. East lancets have clustered shafts supporting double-chamfered rear arches, with the centre arches stilted. A 14th-century north window has a 13th-century central shaft to the rear supporting two hollow-chamfered arches. A 13th-century double-chamfered arch between the chapel and north aisle has the inner chamfer springing from a moulded corbel to the south with broach stop and moulded capital to the north, and the outer chamfer continuous. A continuous chamfered corbel runs along the south wall of the chapel.

Fittings include 20th-century communion rails with turned balusters and a 15th-century two-bay oak screen between the chancel and chapel with chamfered timbers. The screen's large opening to the left has double hollow-chamfered reveals with broach stops, and a hollow-chamfered Tudor-arched doorway to the right with cinquefoil-headed openings above featuring pierced tracery. A polygonal oak pulpit has round-arched panels, carved square panels above, a carved frieze and corners, and a later stone base. A 14th-century octagonal stone font has a chamfered base, moulded bowl and a 19th-century wooden cover. Late 19th-century choir stalls (positioned in the north aisle at the time of survey in March 1987) and a lectern are also present. Fragments of 14th and 15th-century stained glass survive in the chancel windows and the west window of the tower, and a 16th-century glass fragment is visible in the clerestory window.