Church Of St James

The Church of St James is an Anglican parish church with origins in the 12th century, extended and modified in the 13th century, early 14th century, and 15th century. The Sezincote Chapel was added by C. R. Cockerell in 1822–3, and a general restoration was undertaken in 1884. The church is built of coursed squared and dressed limestone with stone slate roofs.

The plan consists of a chancel with vestry on the north side, a nave with south transept and projecting porch on the west, and a west tower.

Chancel

The chancel dates from the 12th century. The south wall has diagonal buttresses and retains a 12th-century corbel table with billet decoration, and a continuous string course running below the windows. There are two 19th-century two-light windows with quatrefoils and stopped hoods either side of a 19th-century plank door set within a basket-headed surround. The string course runs down vertically either side of this door. The east window is Decorated in style with two lights. A headstone to Mary Merril, who died in 1664, is set against the wall at lower left. The north wall has two two-light windows matching those on the south, one either side of the 19th-century vestry, and two battered carved heads either side of the window towards the east end. All nave windows have patterned glazing.

The east wall of the vestry features a 19th-century plank door with decorative hinges within a pointed-arched surround with a stopped hood on the left. Part of the hood has a carved head stop on the right. There is a blocked single-light window with a round head and a fragment of medieval grave slab decorated with a raised cross on the right. Two other moulded stones, one an unfinished hood mould, are set in the same wall. A two-light 19th-century north window has tracery, a stopped hood, and patterned glazing.

Sezincote Chapel

The chapel has diagonal buttresses and clamp buttresses. Various two-light 19th-century windows with tracery appear on all three sides. A string course runs below the windows and there is an embattlemented parapet.

West Porch and Nave

A 19th-century plank door opens into the projecting west porch, which has a hollow-moulded 'Tudor'-arched surround flanked by engaged columns and simple raised decoration on the stone lintel above. The buttressed north wall of the nave has two two-light windows with Perpendicular tracery and stopped hoods, with a string course below the windows. A blocked round-headed north door with round-arched hood is located on the left.

West Tower

The 13th-century west tower has clasping buttresses and a 15th-century third stage. The west face has a pointed slit light, and the belfry has two-light windows with octagonal columns with moulded octagonal capitals dividing the lights and stopped hoods. A fine embattlemented parapet with eight crocketed finials crowns the tower, with a string course below featuring eight winged gargoyles.

South Wall and Porch

The south wall of the nave has a three-light window with cinquefoil-headed lights, simplified Perpendicular tracery, and a stopped hood to the left of the porch. The porch entrance is pointed with a double-chamfered arch and eroded head stops to the hood. A niche with an ogee-arched head sits above the doorway, and a mass dial is positioned to the right of the entrance. Solid stone bench seats line the side walls within the porch, which has a simple 19th-century timber roof. 19th-century double doors with decorative hinges are set within a 12th-century round-arched surround flanked by engaged columns with raised foliate-type decoration. The lower half of a former image niche is visible above.

South Transept

The 14th-century south transept has an embattlemented parapet, offset diagonal corner buttresses, and intervening buttresses. It features a fine five-light south window, a three-light east window, and two three-light west windows, all 14th century with reticulated tracery.

Roof Features

The roofs have flat and slightly stepped gable-end coping, with upright cross finials on the porch and south transept. A 14th-century square stone bellcote open on four sides stands above the church, with an embattlemented upper margin featuring carved faces at each corner and a pyramidal roof with crocketed decoration.

Interior

The chancel arch is 19th century, pointed, and supported by three composite piers. The chancel has an Early English roll-moulded string course below the windows. A pointed reused former chancel arch of two orders with hood and engaged columns either side with scalloped capitals is set in the north wall but is blocked by the organ and a 19th-century door to the vestry. An aumbry is located in the north wall towards the east end, with a projecting image bracket in the east wall. A trefoil-headed piscina sits low down in the south wall towards the east end. A blocked lancet is positioned over the priest's door in the south wall.

The nave has a wide 19th-century pointed-arched opening to the Sezincote Chapel, with a panelled stone parapet above the general level of the nave. A pointed arch with flat-chamfered respond and moulded arch leads to the south transept. The north door has a blocked segmental-pointed arch, and the south door has a segmental-headed arch. The west door has 19th-century double doors with a scroll-moulded stopped hood.

The south transept contains a 14th-century reredos in the east wall adjacent to the nave within a pointed-arched surround. The reredos comprises three cinquefoil-headed niches, each with a crocketed ogee arch over and projecting flat-chamfered image plinths within. A miniature embattlemented parapet with incised arrow slits on each merlon (except below the reredos where carved with four-leafed flowers) runs above. Solid stone seats are positioned below the east window and the window opposite.

The nave has simple 19th-century timber trusses with a spine beam. The chancel has a simple 19th-century braced rafter roof. The south transept has a 20th-century arched-braced roof. The Sezincote Chapel roof features decorative cusping. Flag flooring covers the nave and chancel, with a small area of medieval encaustic tiling around the base of the pulpit bearing Boteler and Sudeley arms.

Fittings

A fine early 14th-century octagonal font stands adjacent to the south doorway, with a niche within each face of the supporting column featuring crocketed decoration at the apex. Four-leafed flower decoration appears on each face of the font. The 19th-century pulpit has blind trefoil decoration and pierced arches at the top. There are 19th-century pews and choir stalls, and a 19th-century wooden altar.

Monuments

A monument to John Scott, who died in 1795 of Banks Fee, is made of white marble on a grey background with an urn and heraldic shield by Ricketts of Bath. Two wooden benefaction boards with black backgrounds and gold lettering record an endowment by Mr Thomas Baker of Addlestrap dated 1701 and an endowment from Mrs Elizabeth Scott of Banks Fee dated 1838. A plaque over the south door records the reopening of the church after restoration of the tower, nave, and south aisle and the installation of new seats by Edmund Temple Godman of Banks Fee in 1884. A recumbent ledger in the floor of the nave near the pulpit commemorates Charles Shuckburgh who died in 1720 and his son.

A tomb of a knight in the south-east corner of the south transept has a 15th-century base with an earlier life-size effigy on top. The base features blind ogee arches with crocketed decoration and engaged finials around it. The life-size figure of a knight in a skirt with almost crossed legs has a dog at his feet, a sword at his side, and his head on a pillow, supported by two finely carved winged angels above. A ledger in the floor beside the tomb commemorates Elizabeth Leigh, who died in 1694, daughter of William Leigh.

A highly ornate canopied chest tomb in the south-west corner commemorates William Leigh who died in 1631 and his wife Elizabeth who died in 1664. Life-size figures of William and his wife recumbent on the tomb are accompanied by effigies of two children and an infant. Figures of two sons kneeling at a prayer desk and three daughters, also kneeling, are on the side of the tomb. Four black marble inscription plaques are set into a panelled stone screen forming a backdrop to the tomb, with the central panel surrounded by raised scroll work. A flat-roofed highly ornate canopy is supported by five black marble columns with Ionic capitals.

In the Sezincote Chapel, a monument to the left of the north window commemorates Harriet, Lady Cockerell (née Rushout), widow of Sir Charles Cockerell, who died in 1851. It is made of white marble with a crocketed gable. A monument to the right of the window commemorates Cecilia Rushout Rushout who died in 1869, in marble with a central panel featuring a carved figure of a man, a draped sarcophagus in the background, and a crocketed ogee arch over. A monument to Sir Charles Cockerell, who died in 1837, is on the east wall. It has a canted limestone canopy with crocketed pinnacles and a coat of arms with the motto "Sapere et Fari" at the bottom. A female figure kneeling at a bust of Sir Charles with a female figure ascending in the background is below. The monument is by Sir R. Westmacott.

Glass

Fragments of reused medieval stained glass appear in the tracery of the west windows of the south transept. Two medallions of painted Flemish glass in the east window represent the return of the prodigal son and the presentation at the temple. Two stained glass windows in the south wall of the nave are dated 1894, and stained glass in the Sezincote Chapel is dated 1902.

History

In the 14th century, the church belonged to the Abbot and Convent of Hailes.