St. James's Church

St. James's Church is a late Georgian hall church that underwent significant alteration and extension approximately fifty years after its initial construction, resulting in a Victorian Gothic Revival style. The building is constructed of coursed squared limestone, with the later additions closely resembling the original but with a slightly more refined finish. The roofs are covered in Welsh slate, currently exhibiting a rubberised coating that is peeling and causing the slates to slip. The church includes a nave, a north aisle, a chancel, and a south-west vestry.

The nave, which represents the original church, shows clear distinctions in the stonework and window alterations resulting from the later Victorian work. The north-east wall features four two-light Decorated windows, each with cusped lights and dripmouldings. A three-centred arch doorway, possibly from the original building, is present, with a hoodmould and plank double doors. Adjacent to this is a single-light window with cusped tracery, and further along, a door into the aisle that matches the style of the original doors. Above the doorway is a large three-light Perpendicular window; the head of this window has been rebuilt, and above it sits an octofoil roundel, topped by a small gable bellcote. The south-west wall was altered by the addition of the south-west aisle. The north-east wall is gabled.

The chancel’s gable end contains a large three-light Decorated window. The side wall features two small windows; one has a square head and the other a pointed head, both with hoodmoulds. A coped gable is present and there is a ventilator in the centre of the ridge. The attached vestry has a door and a two-light window, and its own gabled roof with coped gables. The south-west aisle features a catslide roof, with a lower rear wall punctuated by two-light windows with quatrefoil heads.

Inside the nave, a four-bay arcade comprises octagonal columns and pointed arches. The open roof incorporates hammerbeams supporting cranked collars with a kingpost. Quatrefoils are pierced in the hammerbeam spandrels, and the foot of the beams rests on large stone corbels. The main windows are fitted with coloured glass. A wall monument commemorates Anne Evans, who died in 1823 and “liberally endowed this chapel.” Interesting fluted iron vents are visible, remnants of the original hot air heating system.