Church Of St Philip And St James

Church of St Philip and St James

A parish church built between 1863 and 1865 by the architect William White, with the steeple constructed in 1870–71 following White's original designs. The building is constructed in random sandstone rubble with sandstone and limestone dressings, beneath slate roofs featuring raised coped verges and Maltese cross finials to the nave and chancel.

The church comprises a west tower, nave and chancel, north aisle, north transept, north organ chamber, and south porch, all executed in the Decorated style.

The west tower is three stages in height, with angle buttresses and weathered finials to the tops at the third stage, together with plinth and string courses. The second stage contains quatrefoil lights, whilst the third stage has two-light bell-openings with a central shaft bearing a foliate capital, pointed arches and hood moulds, surmounted by a corbelled cornice. An octagonal stone spire rises above, ornamented with crocketted pinnacles, two-light gabled dormers at its base on each side (featuring pointed arched lights and cross finials), four upper lucarnes, and a weathervane.

A north-west stair tower adjoins the tower, with limestone weatherings and lancets, and a two-light west window at first-stage level with cusped heads and hood mould. The three-bay nave contains single, four and three-light windows with cusped heads. A pointed arched doorway features a similar hood mould with inner shafts bearing foliage capitals. The interior reveals a four-bay common rafter roof with collar and collar purlin. An inner doorway has a hollow-chamfered pointed arch with hood mould, a door with decorative strap hinges, and a quatrefoil light to the east.

The two-bay chancel contains buttresses and two south windows, both of two lights with a stepped cill string running continuously over a central priest's door with pointed arch and decorative strap hinges. A five-light east window displays stepped cusped lights, with a cill string and Lombard frieze below.

The north aisle has a pitched roof, a cusped lancet and a pointed arched door to the north, and a cusped lancet to the west. A gabled north transept features buttresses and a three-light north window with cill string. The organ chamber is set within an angle to the chancel and contains a two-light cusped window with an upper cinquefoil, an ogee-headed door with strap hinges, and a cill string to the window continued over the door head. A small gabled vestry adjoins to the chancel's angle, with a cusped two-light north window having a flat head and hood mould, and a stack to the east.

The interior contains a four-centred tower arch banded in sandstone and limestone with two orders of convex mouldings and a hood mould featuring foliage stops. The tower has a pointed arched door to the stair and a framed ceiling. The nave roof comprises a three-bay structure with tie-beams on braces rising from limestone corbels, principal rafters, collars with lower braces and upper collars to common rafters, and one row of purlins. A three-bay north arcade features marble columns on limestone plinths with pointed arches; the limestone inner order and banded outer order are topped with hood moulds bearing ballflower stops. A cill string course is also decorated with foliage stops. All windows display banded sandstone and limestone rere-arches; the south-west window notably has a rere-arch trumean and a quatrefoil in the tympanum. A half-arch of two orders (the outer banded) rises between the aisle and transept from a foliage corbel, with a common rafter roof to the transept featuring one row of purlins. A similar half-arch to the organ chamber bears a carved angel stop and contains a Perpendicular style screen dated 1924, erected in memory of Reginald Pole Carew. Below the cill string in the main body of the church, the walls are faced in brick with one course painted; the transept walls are panelled.

The chancel arch has engaged marble shafts with limestone foliage capitals, two orders to the arch with banded outer order, and a hood mould, with steps to the pulpit to the south. A two-bay roof features arched-braces and collars rising from vertical members on corbels, common rafters, one row of purlins and collar purlin. A two-bay similar but narrower arcade to the organ chamber has a marble pier, with the hood mould from the arcade continued as a string course to the north and a stepped cill string to the south. An engaged marble colonnette stands at the east end of the arcade. The north wall contains an aumbry with trefoil head and hood mould. The south side features sedilia with cusped heads and cross finials, and a piscina on a shaft with trefoil head. The east window has marble shafts supporting an inner order of banded stone, hood mould and cill string.

Fittings include an octagonal limestone font in the nave with a Perpendicular style cover, four pews with carved ends in the north transept, and chancel pews retaining original poppy head bench ends. A marble reredos features shafts supporting front arcading. The organ dates to 1866. The north aisle contains a painted north wall decorated with a geometric pattern and stylised flowers, whilst the chancel is also painted with scenes from the life of Christ. A fine collection of stained glass adorns all the windows.