Church of St James the Great

Church of St James the Great

A parish church built primarily in coursed squared sandstone with later 19th-century work, the base of the tower finished in rougher rubble. Grey sandstone is used for the window tracery. Slate roofs are topped with coped gables and finials. The building comprises a west tower, nave, north porch, chancel and north vestry.

The tower has a vaulted medieval base, with the upper part rebuilt. It features two cusped pointed bell-lights on each side (except the north) fitted with slate louvres and relieving arches. A moulded string course runs beneath the battlements, which rise higher on the northeast stair tower. The north side has a single bell-light and stair projection to the left, with two original medieval loops and three 19th-century loops. The west side displays a 19th-century ground-floor two-light window with a quatrefoil in the head and stone voussoirs, above which is a single light with trefoil at mid-height.

Windows throughout are pointed with ogee Decorated Gothic tracery and stone voussoirs. The nave consists of four bays with pointed windows featuring two-light ogee tracery. Sloping buttresses sit at the west corners. A large porch projects from the second bay on the north, coped with a gable and finial, with a pointed arch and hoodmould. Inside the porch is a tiled floor and arch-braced collar truss. On the south is a pointed doorway with a boarded door and iron hinges. A piscina is set into the east wall of the porch.

The chancel has a lower roof than the nave and lean-to projections on each side with stonework continuous with the nave, reproducing medieval features. The south side of the chancel has a two-light window, while the east end features an ornate three-light pointed window with hoodmould. The north side is occupied by a lean-to vestry with coped verges and a pointed door in the north wall to the right.

Interior

The tower interior has a narrow pointed stone vault with a segmental-pointed reveal to the west window. A very low rectangular opening provides access to the medieval winding stair. The walls are whitewashed and plastered. The nave roof consists of four bays with arched-braced collar trusses springing from small stone corbels, with tile flooring throughout. The chancel arch is moulded with an uninterrupted keel moulding featuring small rosettes in the hollows on each side. The chancel roof spans three bays with heavier arch-braced collar trusses cusped over the collars and resting on larger corbels. Recesses on each side of the chancel have segmental-pointed heads with stone voussoirs. A pointed door on the north leads to the vestry. The sanctuary floor is laid with encaustic tiles, more elaborate and glazed tiles marking the altar step. A square shelf recess is built into the south wall, while a seat is set into the south window reveal.

Furnishings and Fittings

The font is 12th-century work in small square Bath stone with tapering sides, mounted on a circular shaft with a round base moulding. 19th-century pitch pine pews and a Gothic pulpit with shafted pointed panels on three sides occupy the nave. A war memorial oak screen of around 1920 comprises five bays with a wider central section. Altar rails rest on later 19th-century iron standards with twisted shafts and leaves. The reredos, dated 1916 but possibly of around 1925, was created by John Coates Carter and features three painted gesso panels in an unusual style. The central panel shows Christ with lettered scrolls in gold, flanked by four figures: two saints and two angels.

The east window, dated 1928 and made by Powell of Whitefriars to a design by J. B. Summers of Rosemoor, depicts Mary and Child with the Magi and shepherds. The tower's west window contains late 20th-century glass showing a landscape with a lamb.

Memorials

A white marble memorial on grey fossiliferous stone in the nave commemorates Martha Rees of Gilton (died 1837). A plaque records W. Whish, who was "removed from this life while bathing at Milford Haven", aged 14.

In the chancel, a white marble and grey stone memorial on the north wall honours W. Moore of Romans Castle (died 1796). On the south wall, a white marble plaque with inset coloured marble border, created by Jones & Co of Bristol, commemorates William Cozens of Rosepool (died 1784) and his wife (died 1776). A neo-Grec memorial in white marble with grey fossiliferous stone records John Cozens of Rosepool (died 1814), John Cozens (died 1817), William Cozens of Sandyhaven (died 1824) and his wife Anne (died 1821), made by Williams of Haverfordwest.