Church Of St James

ST 65 NW CAMELEY CAMELEY ROAD (north side)

6/1 Church of St. James 21.9.60 I

Parish Church. Late C12, C15 west tower, minor late C19 restoration. Squared, irregular coursed red and grey sandstone with limestone dressings to tower, rubble stone and dressed stone copings to nave and chancel, render on nave north wall. Concrete tiles to nave, slates to chancel and south porch. Nave, chancel, west tower, south porch. Nave has one perpendicular 2-light window to the south, 2 single light late C19 windows to the north. Chancel has 2 perpendicular 2-light wimdows and doorway to the south, east window 2-light perpendicular with dripstone. Sundial dated 1698 below eaves on south-east corner of chancel. Tower of 3 stages with polygonal north-east corner stair turret. Diagonal buttresses, moulded string courses, embattled parapet to turret, pierced cusped lozenge frieze and crocketted pinnacles to tower. West facade has 4-centred arched dooorway, a 3-light window to 1st stage, single light to 2nd stage and to all 3 faces, 2-light bell openings with dense quatrefoil piercing. South porch has ironwork gates, south door has Transistional round-headed arch with diagonal fret, crocket capital to left, trumpet capital to right with some original colouring. Interior. Nave has C12 chancel arch on square abacii and to the south-east wall a blocked Transitional arch with damaged roll moulding and inserted section of Early English tracery. To north-east wall a trilobed cusped niche. Triple-chamfered arch to tower. Coved plaster roof with ridge rib and carved bosses. Chancel has late C19 open rafter roof. Fittings. Nave, at the tower arch, has Norman font with scalloped undersides, roped neck and moulded plinth. Wooden Jacobean font cover. Fragments of wall paintings (C13 -C17) on nave north and south walls, chancel arch jambs and a dacalogue over chancel arch. C15 benches with square-headed ends, polygonal Jacobean pulpit dated 1637 with arched panels and strapwork, also tester and reading desk. West gallery dated 1711 but with Jacobean style balusters and attached Charles I coat of arms. 3 C18 family box pews and C18 hat racks to nave north and south walls. South gallery dated 1819. Chancel has early C18 wooden reredos and mid C18 communion rail. 2 early C19 monuments to Rees-Mogg family on nave north wall. Church was closed in 1980 and is now redundant. (Pevsner, Buildings of England).

Listing NGR: ST6102857566