Church of St. James

Church of St. James

Small church in Early English style with some Norman features, consisting of a west tower, nave, chancel, south porch and vestry. The earliest fabric is rubble masonry, whilst the 19th-century rebuilding is in snecked stone with pale grey stone dressings including quoins and corbelled eaves. The roofs are slate. Windows are 19th century in Early English style; pairs of cusped lancets appear under stone relieving arches.

The slender two-stage tower has a saddleback roof. The angles were rebuilt in the 19th century with quoins. The east and west gables each have two narrow louvres, one below the other. At a high level on the north side is a circular opening under a gabled hoodmould, said to have been a chimney flue. On the south side is a square-headed lancet at a high level.

The south elevation of the nave is dominated by the porch to the left of centre. It is gabled with corbelled eaves and a chamfered pointed arched entrance. A 20th-century half-lit planked door occupies this opening. Memorial slabs are fixed to the porch's west wall. One pair of windows appears to the left of the porch and two to the right. The south wall of the chancel is in rubble masonry. A roughly central priests' door sits under a chamfered Tudor-arched head with a wood planked door bearing ornate strap hinges. To the left is a small Norman round-headed lancet in a heavy surround. To the right of the door is a larger 19th-century window in a similar style under a hoodmould.

The east end of the church sits on a plinth. A square-headed east window of three lights appears under a square hoodmould with foliate stops. Each light has a round arched head and several orders of mouldings. The north side of the chancel has been mainly rebuilt in the 19th century and contains no windows. The vestry is orientated east-west and abuts the west half of the chancel, with paired lights to its east end. The north side of the nave has two pairs of lights matching those on the south side.

The interior is simple in character. Arch-braced roofs cover the nave and chancel. Openings have wide splayed reveals. The main south doorway is spanned by a round arch of Norman date, below which sits the 19th-century door. A pointed arched doorway to the tower contains a planked door. The chancel is separated from the nave by a round Norman arch on imposts, flanked by round-arched squints. The altar sits on a raised Medieval slab. To each side are Early English-style niches. The left niche features a pointed gabled pediment with cusping, over a cusped head with broach stops to the columns. The right niche has a segmental arched head with a cinquefoiled frieze below. The vestry doorway has a pointed head.

A Norman tub font with rope moulding stands in the nave. A 20th-century pulpit is present. The east window contains stained glass in memory of Edward Williams, who died in 1940, and other members of his family. The south chancel windows have red marginal glazing. On the north chancel wall is a memorial to Frances Hewett, born 25 January 1798, who died aged 30. It takes the form of a lady leaning against an urn in white alabaster with a black background. On the south wall is a tablet to the Rees family, dated around 1800, and a memorial to Catherine Spencer of Wick who died in 1809. Above the pulpit is an 18th-century memorial to the Lloyd family, one of whom was rector at Coychurch, taking the form of a tablet between columns supporting an entablature. A memorial to Margaret Davies and family hangs above the tower door.