Church Of St James

The Church of St James is an Anglican parish church built between 1874 and 1876 by architect James Brooks, replacing a two-cell church from 1648. It is constructed of coursed limestone rubble with a stone slate roof. The church features a nave and chancel in one vessel, along with a north vestry. The entrance is located at the west end of the south wall, consisting of a pair of doors set within splayed jambs, which are positioned forward from the wall face and feature five near-round chamfered arches with a hood mould. Above a continuous string course are lancet windows, also nearly round-headed with hoods. The west end has a larger similar window, while the east end showcases triple lancets with roundel vents above. A rose window with nail-head decoration is present in the west gable, and shallow buttresses define the chancel. An arched opening in the apex of the west gable contains a bell. The vestry on the north side has a shouldered door beneath an extension of the roof and features a tall chimney.

Inside, the church is unplastered, with a barrel-boarded vault in the nave. The chancel is raised two steps and features an arch that is chamfered with a hood mould resting on corbels. A low screen wall is faced with panels of encaustic tiles. The chancel consists of two bays and has a rectangular ribbed vault of stone supported by attached wall shafts, with capitals and ribs decorated with nail-head motifs. The east window has broad reveals. Notable fittings include an octagonal font made of colored stones in the south-west corner, a pulpit crafted from banded limestone and sandstone with quatrefoils that cantilevers from the chancel screen, and a piscina in an arched recess within the window jamb, with a lowered sill serving as simple sedilia. There is a brass sanctuary rail and another piscina in the east window of the vestry. The church contains good stained glass from 1880-1890 by Baguley of Newcastle on Tyne. Monuments include a limestone wall memorial in the nave, a 20th-century design in low relief resembling an aedicule, which is modest yet carefully conceived and detailed.