Church of St James is a Grade II* listed building in the Stroud local planning authority area, England. First listed on 10 January 1955. A Medieval Anglican parish church.

Church of St James

WRENN ID
errant-quoin-wind
Grade
II*
Local Planning Authority
Stroud
Constituency
Stroud MP: Dr Simon Opher (Lab)
Country
England
Date first listed
10 January 1955
Type
Anglican parish church
Period
Medieval
Address
Church of St James, Church Lane, Fretherne with Saul
OS grid reference
SO 749 093
Coordinates
51.78198, -2.36509
Source
Historic England listing

Also on this page: flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

The Church of St James is an Anglican parish church, seemingly dating from around 1140. While a portion of the chancel may be 14th century, the tower and nave windows are of late 15th or early 16th century Perpendicular style. The church was altered and enlarged in 1856 and restored between 1863 and 1865 by T. Fulljames. A north aisle and nave arcade were added during the 19th-century work.

The church is constructed of random coursed dressed stone on a chamfered plinth, with ashlar facing to the tower, chancel and north aisle. The nave and south side of the chancel have stone slate roofs; the remainder uses interlocking concrete tiles. Features include coped verges, cross finials, end saddlestones, and a stiff leaf eaves cornice to the chancel.

The west tower has two stages with string courses, stepped diagonal buttresses to the lower stage, and an embattled parapet. Belfry louvres are trefoil-headed. The west side has a chamfered 3-centred archway, with a deeply splayed double trefoil-head light above and a small single light below the first string course; a clockface dated 1887 sits above the string course. The south side of the nave has 3-light Perpendicular windows framing a small, open timber-work gabled porch. The chancel has paired trefoil-head lancets flanking a trefoil-head priest’s door. The north aisle also features paired or triple trefoil-head lancets, and a three-light east window.

Inside, the nave has a four-bay arcade to the north aisle, which has a plain rafter roof. The piers have pierced trefoils set into their angles. A wagon roof covers the nave. The arcade's cylindrical columns have water-holding bases. The chancel roof has arched-braced principals resting on carved stone corbels. The chancel arch contains two elaborate corbels with two small marble columns above. An elaborate stone screen, with a cusped central archway, separates the tower, incorporating flanking stone seats, likely of 19th-century origin. A Caen stone reredos from 1883, originally from St Michael's, Gloucester, and created by H.C. and W.S. Frith, is also present. A Norman font and a Jacobean pulpit complete the interior.

Local climate

Church of St James receives an average of 780 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 61% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 51% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 37 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 69% of listed buildings. Of these, 16 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.

Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.

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Nearby listed buildings

  1. Two Unidentified Monuments, Immediately West of South Porch in Churchyard of Church of St James Grade II 10 m
  2. Two Holder Monuments, About 6m South East of South Porch in Churchyard of Church of St James Grade II 11 m
  3. Hathaway Monument, About 2m South of West Tower in Churchyard of Church of St James Grade II 15 m
  4. Lion House Grade II 102 m
  5. Saul Farmhouse Grade II 114 m
  6. The Thatched Cottage Grade II 419 m
  7. Malthouse Farmhouse Grade II 535 m
  8. Milestone at National Grid Reference So 755 092 Grade II 601 m
  9. Lock and Lockgates Canal (North West Side of Gloucester and Sharpness Canal, and Immedieatly West of Bridge Over Same) Grade II 696 m
  10. Fretherne Bridge House Grade II 882 m