Church Of St James

Church of St James

This is a parish church of the 15th century, situated in St Kew, restored in 1883. The building is constructed in stone ashlar with a moulded plinth and slate roofs. It comprises a five-bay nave and chancel in one, north and south aisles, a west tower, and a south porch.

The church displays the characteristic features of 15th-century Perpendicular architecture, though the tracery has undergone varying degrees of restoration. The north and south aisles have 15th-century four-centred arch three-light windows with Perpendicular tracery. A five-light east window in the south aisle features a basket arch with Perpendicular tracery, and a four-light east window in the north aisle also displays Perpendicular tracery. The north window of the chancel retains original Perpendicular tracery, though the east window of the chancel has 19th-century tracery and mullions set within the original frame, with the tracery largely renewed. The south aisle has a circa 16th-century west window with unmoulded tracery. The masonry remains fairly undisturbed, with several straight joints visible in the fabric.

The west tower is a fine structure of three stages with a south-facing set-back turret stair. It features stepped buttresses and a battlemented parapet, partly renewed, with corner pinnacles and crocketted finials. The circa 15th-century west door has a moulded four-centred arch with a renewed hood. Above it sits a three-light west window with eroded uncusped Perpendicular tracery. The tower also contains two-light windows with rectangular surrounds and three-light belfry openings with Perpendicular tracery and slate louvres.

The south porch is gabled and features a wide four-centred granite arch with hood-mould and carved label stops. Above the porch gable is a sundial. The south doorway has a moulded two-centred greenstone arch with pyramid stops and hood-mould. The door itself is triple lapped and studded, possibly of 16th-century date, with an inner face that has been renewed.

The interior presents a tall and lofty five-bay nave and chancel with north and south aisles of equal height. Throughout the church are circa 15th-century waggon roofs, though partly restored and ceiled with later boarding that probably replaced plaster. The roofs feature moulded transverse and longitudinal ribs with carved bosses, arcades, and wall plates. The chancel and the two eastern bays of the north and south aisles have carved ribs, with the bosses in the chancel re-gilded, probably in the 1970s. Carved figures of angels appear at the springing points of the ribs in the nave and south aisle, some partly renewed in the late 19th or early 20th century. The porch roof is also a circa 15th-century waggon roof, partly restored, with moulded ribs, a carved wall plate, and two carved bosses.

The arcades to the north and south aisles comprise five bays with tall type A moulded piers (following Pevsner's classification) featuring tall bases, carved capitals, and moulded four-centred arches. The tower arch is unmoulded and two-centred.

The circa 15th-century octagonal font has a moulded cornice and base and is decorated with a band of quatrefoils. A fine circa 17th-century timber pulpit with carved panels is a notable furnishing. The chancel contains a cusped head to a piscina, possibly once continuing westward with sedilia, and possibly a reworked piscina in the north aisle. A rood loft turret with stair is located in the north aisle. A 19th-century chancel screen, possibly incorporating fragments of an earlier screen, is heavily restored. Four circa 15th-century bench ends remain in the church. Above the south door is a plaster royal arms dated CR 1661, formed on an older oak-framed and chamfered construction possibly a tympanum, which was mutilated when the arms were moved to their present position. An almsbox is positioned at the west end of the north aisle.

The church contains stained glass of particularly fine quality. The east window of the north aisle is a circa 15th-century example, almost complete except for two lower panels. It depicts the events of Holy Week with the arms of Henry V displayed above those of the Carminow, Kingdom, and Beare families. This window is reputed to be referenced in accounts of the mayor and churchwardens of Bodmin, circa 1469, with an entry recording "It. y recevyd for a Wyndow of Seynt Kewa, xxjs vijd." The east window of the south aisle contains circa 15th-century reset glass with fragments of a Tree of Jesse. Further glass in the south aisle, reset, displays heraldic arms.

Memorials include several fine 18th-century ledger stones at the east end of the nave. A slate stone hung on the south aisle commemorates John Cavell, died 1602, with arms of Cavell impaling Courtenay, Godolphin, and Pomory. Another slate stone hung on the north aisle commemorates Honor, wife of John Webber of Ambel, died 1601, with a carved figure of a mother and three children in relief. A classical memorial in the tower commemorates Mrs Melloney Pomory, died 1799. Several fine ledger stones are hung on the exterior of the church, including those of Nicholas Philips, died 1779, and John Ballamy of Drewsteignton, Devon, died 1702. A lantern cross and Ogham stone are resited at the west end of the south aisle.