Church Of St James The Less

The Church of St James the Less is a parish church. The west tower dates to the late 15th or early 16th century, while the remainder of the church was entirely rebuilt in 1873 by G. E. Street. The church is constructed of coursed stone rubble with a gable-ended slate roof, and a stone chimney to the vestry.

The plan includes a nave, chancel, south aisle and porch, a west tower and a vestry on the north side of the chancel. Following a largely early Decorated style, the church was rebuilt in 1873, apart from the original tower.

The three-stage castellated west tower features obelisk finials. A round-headed granite west doorway has roll and hollow moulding and an arched hoodmould. A 20th-century rebuilt three-light Perpendicular style window occupies the west side, alongside two segmental arched belfry openings and slit openings for the stair on the north side. The north side of the nave has three two-light and one single-light plate tracery windows. A lean-to vestry is situated at the east end, with an arched doorway. A large five-light east window of Decorated style is present, along with a similar smaller two-light window on the south side of the chancel. The south aisle incorporates a three-light early Decorated style window to either side of the porch, and a trefoiled light towards the east end, as well as a single-storey gabled porch with a two-centred moulded arched doorway and diagonal buttresses to either side.

Internally, the south doorway is framed by a pointed arch with nookshafts. Walls are lined with fine sandstone ashlar. A three-bay arcade is constructed of similar stone with four-centred arches, piers with moulded capitals, a wide similar chancel arch, and a pointed sandstone tower arch. The chancel contains sedilia and a piscina in the south wall, alongside an arch in the north wall leading to the vestry. The nave is covered by an arch-braced collar beam roof with cusping to the arches and angel corbels to the principal rafters. The chancel has a boarded roof, while the aisle has a plain wagon roof. The pulpit front is octagonal, crafted with Caen stone and displaying fine fleuron carving to the panels and stem, comprised of clustered shafts, alternate ones of marble. A slate wall memorial to Jane Wollacombe, who died in 1777, is on the west wall of the nave, along with two further slate and marble wall memorials; one with a nowy head dated 1668 and the other to William Spurway Gent, who died in 1715.