Parish Centre For St Philip And St James

The parish centre, originally the Church of St James, was built between 1825 and 1830 to designs by Edward Jenkins, with advice from J.B. Papworth, and constructed by James Cooke. The site was donated by James Fisher, the developer of Suffolk Square in Cheltenham. The building is ashlar faced over brick, with a concealed roof. It is constructed in the Regency Gothic style, specifically the Decorated type of tracery.

The exterior features a six-bay aisled nave with buttresses between two-light windows with Decorated-type tracery and hoodmoulds, and a crenellated parapet. A short angled sanctuary is present. The west end has pinnacled towers and a gable, with a four-light window featuring decorated tracery, a crocketed ogee label, and a clock above. The buttresses of the west front include a chevroned string course. At the east end, a four-light window exhibits Decorated-type tracery and a hoodmould with face stops and a chamfered sill, flanked by smaller two-light windows to the aisles. There are entrances to the west end with a central double lancet-panelled door with a fanlight, and smaller pointed-arched doors to the ends.

The interior retains a good galleried design, with arcaded panelling to the balconies and clustered piers supporting Tudor arches of the arcade. Iron trusses are also present. The sanctuary is richly carved, and a single flat-pitched roof extends over a considerable span, supported by slender quatrefoil columns with octagonal abaci and Tudor arches, some of which are infilled. A narrow open-well staircase with stick balusters is located at the rear. The doors are characterised by Y-tracery. Monuments are present by G Lewis of Cheltenham, and by Peter Hollins of Birmingham, dated 1855.

Historically, Suffolk Square occupies land formerly owned by the Earl of Suffolk, who had built Suffolk House on the land. His daughter later sold much of the land, enabling the development of the square. The building is part of a distinguished group of buildings in Suffolk Square.