Church of Our Lady and St James is a Grade II listed building in the Gwynedd local planning authority area, Wales. First listed on 2 August 1988. Church.
Church of Our Lady and St James
- WRENN ID
- forgotten-spandrel-pearl
- Grade
- II
- Local Planning Authority
- Gwynedd
- Constituency
- Bangor Aberconwy MP: Claire Hughes (Lab)
- Country
- Wales
- Date first listed
- 2 August 1988
- Type
- Church
- Address
- Church of Our Lady and St James, Bangor
- OS grid reference
- SH 575 720
- Coordinates
- 53.22619, -4.13517
- Source
- Cadw listing
Description
The Church of Our Lady and St James is a Grade II listed building designed in the Decorated Gothic style, featuring curvilinear window tracery. It has a prominent three-stage southwest tower topped with a broach spire, and a six-bay triple nave plan that includes a lower three-bay chancel and an attached northeast vestry range. The exterior is constructed from snecked rubble masonry with Anglesey marble dressings, and it has slate roofs, gable finials, corbelled eaves, and stepped buttresses, which are gabled at the chancel and include plinth and cill bands.
The tower serves as the main entrance and features two tiers of blind gabled lucarnes and uncarved label stops. There is a two-light impaled trefoil louvred opening at the bell stage, with a quatrefoil cill band above a circular clock face that has a rounded label. The entrance is heavily moulded, leading into a wooden-ceiled inner porch. A polygonal vice is located on the east side. The chapel's south face has acutely pointed, non-medieval traceried windows flanking paired lancets, while the north nave features similar windows. The east face has a three-light impaled trefoil window above the entrance, adorned with foliage capitals. The chancel includes paired and single light windows, as well as a four-light double cusped window on the east side. The vestry's east face has a two-light window below a punched quatrefoil and a stone chimney stack. The west end has twin gables, a high plinth, and three-light windows. Overall, the masonry detail of the building appears slightly unfinished.
The churchyard is triangular in shape, surrounded by contemporary Gothic railings, and can be accessed from the east between gate piers.
Inside, the nave features cylindrical piers and a plain 'hammerbeam' roof supported by uncarved springers. The south nave serves as a memorial chapel. The interior includes Gothic furnishings, such as an octagonal font with marble columns, and a notable stained glass window depicting the crucifixion in the Lady Chapel, created by A Gibbs.
Local climate
Church of Our Lady and St James sits in one of the wettest parts of the UK, with an average of 1,210 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 92% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 90% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 37 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 67% of listed buildings. Of these, 19 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.
More on this building
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- No EPC on record for this property
- No sale records on file
- No related consent applications matched
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
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