Church Of St James

The Church of St James is a medieval parish church with significant 15th and 16th century rebuilding, restored in 1880. The west tower is probably 13th century with a broach spire added in the 14th century. The south aisle and south porch are built of dressed stone, while the remainder is stone rubble. The roofs are slate with coped gable ends and apex crosses. The church comprises a west tower, nave, north and south aisles, chancel, north and south chancel chapels, and a vestry with priest's chamber above to the north side.

The unbuttressed tower has a battered plinth and is topped by a patterned lead broach spire, which was releaded in 1892 by J Smyth. The medieval roof structure of the spire remains intact. Each face of the spire features pointed arches to the lucarnes (small openings). The tower has a small single-light window on the south side and a large clock face on the west side.

The south aisle has a pointed arched west window of three trefoil-headed lights with a hoodmould. Both the south aisle and porch have embattled parapets. A sundial dated 1755 is positioned towards the west end of the south side. To the left of the porch is a 19th century straight-headed three-light window. The south porch itself has a 16th century pointed arched doorway with Pevsner 'A' type moulding to the surround, lipped capitals to the shafts, and a hoodmould. The porch ceiling is a ceiled waggon roof with variously carved bosses at the intersections of the moulded ribs and longitudinal members. The inner doorway has a four-centred arch with a hollow ogee roll moulded surround and rams horn stops at the base of the jambs. The door is a 19th century plank door of two leaves.

To the right of the porch are two straight-headed 19th century three-light windows flanking an ashlar buttress with offsets. There is a priest's doorway with a 19th century door and moulded surround with large stone voussoirs. The south aisle east window has three cinquefoil-headed lights with a pointed arched hoodmould. The chancel east window is of four lights with Perpendicular tracery and a corbel to the right side of the hoodmould.

The priest's chamber has a first-floor window with a hollow-chamfered surround, iron stanchions and saddle bars, and a hoodmould with returned ends. There is a pointed-headed stone tablet to a daughter of Tristram Chichester, also with iron stanchions and saddle bars. An ashlar stack with offsets stands to the right side.

The east end of the north aisle has a pointed arched window in Perpendicular style of five lights with a hoodmould. The north side of the north transept features a large four-light window, also in Perpendicular style, flanked by two buttresses. The north aisle has four buttresses with offsets and three tall straight-headed windows, each of three four-centred arched lights with fillet and cavetto mullions, all with iron stanchions and saddle bars. The west end of the north aisle has a pointed arched window in Perpendicular style of three lights with a hoodmould.

Interior

The interior contains spectacular rich fittings and furnishings. The south and north arcades each have three bays with Pevsner 'B' type mouldings. The south arcade has lipped capitals only to the main shafts, while the north arcade has standard leaf capitals. The chancel arcade on the south side has 'A' type responds with small capitals and a deep sunk chamfer to the soffit of the arch. Blind trefoil-headed tracery appears on the west side of the chancel-nave pier. The north chancel arcade is similar to the north nave arcade but with a deeper arch.

The pier from which the chancel and nave arcades spring, as well as the north chancel chapel arch (which is pointed with Pevsner 'B' type mouldings and a crowned human head corbel on the north side), has leaf capitals to the north-east side, two demi-angels clutching shields and a small figure to the east side, and blind trefoil-headed panels to the west and south sides. The eastern respond of the north chancel arcade has leaf capitals with an additional short bay, partially infilled with a small pointed arch on the west side and a vestry doorway across the angle with a moulded surround. The tower arch is an unmoulded pointed arch, and the nave-chancel arch is round-headed timber with cusped-headed panelling.

The south aisle has a continuous waggon roof. Every fourth rib is moulded with carved bosses at the intersections of the ribs and purlins, which are colour painted. The east end section is ceiled with four panels that have foliated centre and corner bosses to the crossed ribs. The nave waggon roof has every third rib moulded with carved bosses at the intersections of three tiers of purlins, the ridge purlin, and the ribs, which are supported on carved wall plates retaining some original painted decoration. Demi-angel corbels support the main ribs. Four sections at the east end are ceiled with crossed ribs spanning two sections, with two foliated stars in each section. The ceilure continues into the raking roof of the clerestory three-light timber mullioned window.

The north aisle waggon roof repeats that of the south aisle but ends at the chapel arch. It features richly carved leaf decoration to the wall plates, and painted decoration survives on the main ribs and purlins. The chancel roof is unceiled, has no purlins, and is without decoration. On the south side, the wall plate is carried on short corbelled-out wall posts with moulded soffits to the braces and quatrefoil tracery to the spandrels. The north chancel chapel has a trabeated ceiling with painted decorations on the main beams and large richly carved bosses at the intersections and at the ends of the cross members.

An enriched 19th century marble and stone carved reredos by Hems and Son of Exeter, erected to the memory of the Smyth family, stands in the chancel. It features kneeling angels in ogee-headed recesses with flame finials to blind traceried pilasters outside saint figures in niches with slender marble colonnettes supporting triple trefoil-headed arched canopies. The central crucifixion scene with two figures on each side of Christ has a similar enlarged triple-arched canopy. An enriched foliated cornice and cresting complete the composition.

On the south side of the chancel is a combined 19th century piscina, half-sedilia, and double four-centred arched sedilia. There is 19th century choir seating with poppy head bench ends.

A fine square-framed chancel screen extends across the length of the church, restored in 1880. It has eleven bays with half end bays. Openings are located at the centre and a second bay in from each side. The third and fourth bays are cut through with rectangular openings. The opening to the north side is said to be the site of the Altar of St Katherine; the right side opening was inserted in 1880 for the sake of uniformity. A heavily carved cornice is crested with brattishing, below which are four large and small alternating bands of carving. Each bay has four lights with slender muntins and cable mouldings to the central stiles. Richly carved outer stiles carry the ribbed vaulting beneath the loft. The panelled base has each panel with various naturalistic carvings to the ogee-headed lights.

At the rear of the nave, five pairs of pews on each side retain some timber from 16th century bench ends; the remainder are 19th century bench ends with Renaissance style carvings.

A fine stone late 15th century pulpit stands in the nave. The drum has five facets and stands on a slender octagonal stem with blind cusped panels to the head of each facet with foliated capitals. Demi-angels are at the base of each muntin with crocketted finials. Figures of Saints Paul, Peter, Augustine, Ambrose, and Jerome appear on each of the five facets with ogee canopies, leaf crockets, and Tudor ornament to the head. 19th century winder stone steps have wrought iron stick balusters, a moulded hand rail, and a thin band of ogee-headed pierced tracery between the balusters.

A remarkable font resembles a pulpit and has an enriched canopy with two angels bearing shields at the corners. It has a foliated cornice and crossed ribs to the soffit of the canopy continuing down the coving, with carved emblems in each section. The sides of the canopy splay inwards with cable moulded muntins. Each side is three panels high with rich Renaissance carvings on each panel. The font is of three tiers with seven facets. The bottom panels are plain except one to the rear which has a 16th century scrolling design. The second tier is carved with Renaissance details in all panels. The front two panels to the left and three panels are hinged and open like cupboard doors to reveal the lead-lined bowl. The top tier has plain panels separated by balustered pilasters with crocketted finials and turned pinnacles. A canted canopy with small round arches to each cant and a crown cover with open trusses and a cable moulded central shaft completes the font.

A 17th century chest in the nave has a three-panelled front with lunettes to the head rail. A small pointed arched piscina is set into the east wall of the north chapel.

Monuments

On the north side of the chancel is a marble tablet to John Nott Esquire, who died in 1856.

In the north chancel chapel, on the east wall, is a pedimented plaque dated 1793 above a pedimented wall tablet with anthemion acroteria to John Nott of Tordown, who died in 1809. A wall monument to Charles Cutcliffe and Christina his sister, who died in 1721, features an oil painting of a bust in an oval medallion with small shields on each side and putti above, resting on an Ionic pilastered tablet with scrolled wings and a skull in the base. Below this is a marble wall monument by Stephens of Exeter, with an oval plaque and a Classical urn to one side on a plinth, to William and Elizabeth Hole, who died in 1819 and 1822.

The north wall of the chancel chapel has a Classical urn on an elliptical wall tablet to Priscilla Thorne of Bristol, who died in 1783, and her daughter, by T Paty and Sons of Bristol. The west wall has a wedge-shaped metal plaque with fluted pilasters supporting a semi-circular arch with the inscription "1674" above "HL" inside the arch, and "WS" above "HY" to the left, "CG" above "AR" outside, with "WARDEN" below.

On the north wall of the north aisle is a large wall monument with small urns flanking an achievement above a shouldered surround with putti on each side and a winged skull below, to Lewis Rosier, who died in 1676, with original painted decoration. An oval medallion with an enriched scrolling surround commemorates Henry Chichester of Hall, who died in 1736. A skull is below, with two putti and an achievement above. At the west end of the north aisle are six clappers from old bells mounted on a wooden plaque dated 1928.

In the south aisle, from the west end, are three pedimented marble wall tablets to members of the Joce family and Elizabeth Cowell, mid-19th century. A pedimented wall tablet with an obelisk to the centre of the pediment and flanking figures has a roundel with a skull above Ionic pilasters with scrolled wings with shields on each side and below, with cherubs' heads, to John Rosier, who died in 1658. A wall monument to Tristram Chichester, who died in 1654, features a large achievement with a broken scrolled pediment above Ionic pilasters with shields to the sides and below. An oval medallion with cherubs' heads to the spandrels contains a bust of a male figure leaning on his hand. A scrolled surround frames the epitaph below.

19th century stained glass fills the east window and the east window of the south aisle.