Description

RADLEY CHURCH ROAD
SU5299 (North side)
18/87 Church of St. James
09/02/66
GV II*
Church. C13: chancel of c.1330: C15 tower and fenestration: restored 1902.
Uncoursed limestone rubble with ashlar dressings and partly roughcast east wall:
ashlar tower. Gabled artificial stone slate roofs. Chancel and nave with south
aisle and transept and west tower: north aisle and transept destroyed in 1640's.
Fine C15 Perpendicular east window; early C14 angle buttresses have crocketted
pinnacles. Fleuron frieze and crenellated parapet to 2-bay side walls of chancel
which have C15 three-light cinquefoil-headed windows, C19 north door and C17
burial-chamber attached to south. North wall of 2-bay nave has similar reset C15
two- and 3-light windows flanking offset buttress. South transept has Y-tracery
windows of c.1902. Nave has much restored C15 three-light window, an offset
buttress and C15 south doorway with a C17 studded and ribbed door inscribed
"Rodericus Loid 1656": late C19 timber porch. C15 two-light window with restored
label-mould to west end of south aisle. C15 west tower: large Tudor-arched
2-light window above 2-centred doorway with quatrefoil spandrels: similar C15
windows to belfry: single-light windows adjoin sundial to south: crenellated
parapet with gargoyles at corners. Interior: finely-carved painted reredos of
1909. C18 communion rail. Very fine early C17 misericords and stalls with 6-bay
crocketed and panelled canopies bought from Cologne c.1847: benches have huge
C17 poppy heads similar to those in Sunningwell Church (q.v.). Chancel arch of
c.1902. Late C19 stone pulpit has very fine 3-bay late Gothic canopy with angel
pendants to front, and linenfold and curvilinear-traceried panels at back. Late
C19 eagle lectern; C18 pews, much restored; fine Norman drum font with blind
arches is supported on 4 individually-carved colonettes with scalloped capitals;
early C19 wrought-iron lantern-bracket and C20 gallery at west end. South
transept has C13 piscina and C17 collar-truss roof. Unusual 4-bay south arcade
has stop-chamfered oak posts supporting restored arcade plate which has
hollow-chamfered lateral bracing: king-post roof of c.1902. C15 arch to west
tower. Monuments: important monument in chancel by Nicholas Stone of Sir William
Stonhouse, d.1631, and his son, d.1632: finely detailed and coloured. The
recumbent effigies of William and his wife lie on a chest tomb with their
children carved below, and son kneeling with his hands clasped in prayer over a
skull on the right: chest tomb is framed by an open pediment with heraldic
achievement and a shallow back-arch framing inscription panel. Also in chancel
are wall tablets to Sir William Bowyer, d.1893, and Admiral Sir George Bowyer by
F. Nollekens, which has garlanded oval inscription and flag draped over nautical
symbols (compass, canon, anchor, ramrod etc.): oval tablet to his son Lieutenant
Colonel William Bowyer, d.1808 on service in Barbados. South aisle has unusual
triptych with central urn on wall by J. Lock of Abingdon to Davis family c.1822.
Stained glass: east window has early C16 French or Flemish glass and large early
C16 portrait in west window. C16 heraldic glass in other windows has been
re-arranged and "supplemented very skillfully" by Thomas Willement c.1840. The
canopy over the pulpit is said to have been the canopy to the Speaker's Chair
brought here from Parliament by Speaker William Lenthall in 1630's. Radley was a
Royalist outpost of Oxford in the Civil War, when the north aisle and transept
were destroyed. The C13 style south transept windows replaced C15 ones in the
1902 restoration.
(V.C.H.; Berkshire, pp.414-415; Buildings of England: Berkshire, pp. 196-7;
Bodleian Library, M.S. Top, Berks, c.57, Jol.168v, and c.50, No.146; National
Buildings Record; Patrick Drysdale, Radley, l985, pp.15-19).

Listing NGR: SU5219499377

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17549793

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  County Durham (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England) by Elizabeth Williamson Nikolaus Pevsner(1983-03-11)
• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990: Updated version
• 
  Cork: City and County (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)
• 
  Norfolk 1: Norwich and North-East: Norwich and North-east v. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  The Victorian House Manual (2nd Edition): How They Were Built, Improvements & Refurbishment, Solutions to All Common Defects - Includes Relevant ... ... Properties (Haynes Manual) (Haynes Manuals)
• 
  Churches: An Architectural Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)