Church Of St James The Great

Church of St James the Great, Gretton

This is a Church of England parish church of early 12th-century origin, substantially modified and restored over subsequent centuries. It stands on the north side of Station Road in Gretton.

The building is constructed of regular coursed and squared limestone and ironstone, partly rendered, with the west tower built of ironstone ashlar. The roofs are covered in lead, aluminium and Collyweston slate. The church comprises an aisled nave, chancel, west tower and south porch.

The chancel dates to the early 12th century but was substantially re-modelled in the 18th century. Its south elevation contains two windows, which were refenestrated in the 18th century and feature single-light square-head windows with plain ashlar surrounds. A south door sits between these windows. The steep gabled slated roof rises above. The east window is a particularly fine 4-light Decorated window with reticulated tracery. The north elevation of the chancel contains one similar window to the far right, and a central lean-to projection houses the organ chamber. A hipped roof porch to the left of centre provides access to a Hatton family vault situated beneath the chancel.

The south transept contains a 19th-century Perpendicular-style south window with a single lancet on the right return, beneath a shallow gabled roof with ashlar parapets. The north transept, restored in the 19th century, features a triple lancet north window beneath a steep gabled and slated roof with ashlar parapets.

The south aisle has a 2-window range comprising a late 18th-century 2-light Gothick window to the centre set within an earlier opening, and a 17th-century four-light square-head window with mullion and transom to the right. It is covered by a lean-to roof with plain ashlar parapets. A 14th-century two-light square-head west window with renewed tracery also lights this aisle. A limestone ashlar porch, probably of 19th-century date, features a chamfered outer arch and shallow gabled roof, with an 18th-century panelled inner door.

The north aisle similarly has a 2-window range of 12th-century two-light square-head windows with tracery, covered by a lean-to roof with plain ashlar parapets. A small single-light window in the west wall is now blocked. The nave clerestory consists of a 4-window range of 19th-century foiled circles and cusped spherical triangles, with one 14th-century two-light window at the east end of both elevations, beneath a shallow gabled roof with ashlar parapets.

The Perpendicular west tower comprises four stages with subdivision to the first stage, and is buttressed by shallow clasping buttresses. The first stage contains a 2-light west window, the second stage a single-light window to the south face, and the fourth stage has 4-light bell-chamber openings with transoms on each face. A castellated limestone ashlar parapet with gargoyles at the corners is crowned by crocketted pinnacles with panelled bases. A wooden cupola houses the bell. The north aisle overlaps the base of the tower.

Interior

The interior features a 4-bay nave arcade. The central two bays are of early and mid-12th-century date, with semi-circular roll-moulded arches carried on circular piers with square abaci decorated with scalloping on the south side. The eastern arches on both north and south sides date to the 13th century and have double-chamfered arches with circular pier and responds to the north, and octagonal pier and responds to the south. The western arches on both sides are 14th-century narrow pointed arches with double chamfering. A double-chamfered chancel arch with 18th-century panelled responds connects the nave to the chancel. A triple-chamfered tower arch with octagonal responds opens beneath the tower.

The chancel walls show evidence of early 12th-century window openings of the original aisless church. Half arches at the junction of the aisles with the transepts have bracketed responds. The inside corner of the south transept contains single arcades intersecting at the corner, comprising a blank trefoil head to the chancel wall and a roll-moulded arch with two orders of shafts to the adjacent east wall, both decorated with dog-tooth ornament.

Some original roof timbers survive in the aisle and south transept roofs, whilst others are 19th-century structures. 18th-century box pews with curved sides stand at the chancel approach. An 18th-century fielded panelled pulpit with inlaid glory decoration, fielded panelled choir stalls and wall panelling to the chancel, together with a matching communion rail with turned balusters, provide the principal furnishings.

The church contains several important monuments. A tablet to Leigh Clarke, who died in 1657, with an oval inscribed panel, is located on the south wall of the chancel, adjacent to a brass tablet to Henry Clark, died 1664. A monument to the Ladies Hatton, dated 1684, was created by William Stanton; two identical tablets either side of the altar feature draperies and a cherubs head at the base. Viscount Hatton, who died in 1706, is commemorated by a grey sarcophagus on the south wall of the chancel, with two white cherubs on volutes flanking an inscribed obelisk. Robert Graham is commemorated by an 18th-century tablet with cornice and coat of arms on the north wall of the north aisle. A fragment of medieval wall painting survives to the right of the east window. 19th-century stained glass has been inserted into one light of a north aisle window. A Perpendicular octagonal font and various medieval niches are also present. A hatchment hangs above the south door.