The Church Of Saint James

The Church of Saint James is a church dating back to the 15th century, with earlier fragments, and was restored in 1864-65 by Sir Arthur Blomfield. It is constructed of local stone with squared blocks, and incorporates Ham stone dressings, with plain clay tile roofs featuring bands of fish scale and other decorative tiles, and ornamented terra cotta ridges. The building has a cruciform plan, comprising a three-bay chancel, a three-bay nave, a South porch, and a West tower.

The tower has offset corner buttresses, a plinth, and three stages defined by string courses, with double string framing quatrefoil panels to the head of the second stage. Crenellation and pinnacles are present on both buttresses and the parapet. A stair tower is located in the North-east corner and is surmounted by an 18th-century weathercock and vane. A small West doorway features moulded jambs, a four-centred head, a square label, and foliated spandrels. Above the doorway are three statue niches, followed by a late 15th-century three-light traceried window with an arcaded transome. There are two small 2-light windows on the North and South sides, each with pierced stone baffles, and a three-light ogee alternate tracery window on all four sides, also with pierced stone baffles, to the top stage. Gargoyles are situated above the centres and corners of each face. The church contains five bells, the earliest of which dates to the 17th century.

The remainder of the church shows unremarkable 19th-century work, except for the North transept windows, which appear to be from an earlier building. Interior features include three early piscinas, a fine two-seat stone sedilia potentially from the 15th century, an early 12th-century font with a plain bowl, shaft, scalloped base, and early lead lining, and a likely 15th-century stone screen, now located West of the double-panel coffered tower arch. The 19th-century timber chancel screen is described as delicate and well executed. Originally a Norman church, it was reconstructed in a Gothic style during the incumbency of the Reverend Charles Old Goodford, D.D. (1848-84), who also held the positions of Provost of Eton (1862-84) and Squire of the Manor of Chilton Cantelo (from 1863).