Church Of St James

The Church of St James is a parish church with origins in the 12th century. The base of the tower and the northwest angle of the nave date to around 1120. A north aisle was likely added in the 13th century, and a north chapel in the late 13th century. The south arcade to the nave and south aisle was constructed in the 14th century, while the north arcade, north aisle and south chapel are of the late 15th or early 16th century. The church underwent restoration in 1844, with rebuilding of the north chapel and addition of a clerestory, and further restoration including rebuilding of the south arcade to the chancel in 1872. It is built of limestone rubble with limestone and sandstone dressings, and has slate roofs.

The church comprises a west tower, a nave with aisles, a chancel, and north and south chapels. The three-stage west tower has later embattled parapets. It has a 14th-century west window with two trefoiled ogee lights, a square-headed window in the north wall, and early 16th-century two-light windows in each wall of the bell chamber. The south wall features a gabled porch and a 14th-century doorway with chamfered jambs and a two-centred head. There are two windows dating from around 1330, each with two trefoiled ogee lights, and two 16th-century windows with moulded ogee lights. A reset doorway from around 1300 is set between these windows. The east wall has a 19th-century east window. A 13th-century three-light window with pointed heads to the lights is in the north chapel, and a reset window from around 1300, with three trefoiled lights and intersecting tracery, with a carved head over, is in the south chapel. The west wall has a 16th-century two-light window with remains of a moulded label and headstops to the north of the tower, and a partly restored early 16th-century three-light window with a moulded label to the south. The north wall has three two- or three-light windows; one is a reset 14th-century two-light window with ogee heads to the lights, and traces of a blocked doorway remain.

Inside, the nave and chancel have a nine-bay king-post roof, with the four western bays likely dating to the early 16th century, and the others later. The south aisle has an eight-bay roof, probably of the 16th century, and the north aisle has a roof, also probably of the 16th century. The south aisle features two recesses in the south wall: one with a trefoiled head and a round drain and another with chamfered jambs. The pulpit is a five-sided oak structure with enriched 17th-century panels assembled with 19th-century posts, base and cornice. The glass is mostly 19th-century, including a window by Shrigley and Hunt of Lancaster dated 1877 in the south aisle. Fragments of medieval cross shafts are also present.