Description

PENSAX CP PENSAX
SO 76 NW

6/166 Church of St James

20.10.83

GV II

Parish church. 1832-3 by Thomas Jones on old site; alterations of 1891
by George Vialls. Part ashlar with Welsh slate roof, part snecked rock-
faced sandstone with ashlar dressings and plain tiled roofs; parapets
at gable ends with cross finials. West tower with south porch, three-bay
nave, two-bay chancel with north vestry and organ chamber. Perpendicular
style. West window of tower, bell-chamber openings, south entrance and
nave windows have hood moulds with large head stops. West tower: 1832;
three stages with plinth and three strings; set-back buttresses with off-
sets; 3-light west window; second stage has a lancet with a square hood
and returns to north and south elevations; belfry stage has 2-light louvred
bell-chamber openings; embattled parapet above, now without its corner
pinnacles. The tower stairs project to the north-east of the tower and
have three loopholes beneath the second stage string and a pair of loop-
holes above it at the west side. The tower originally had north and south
doorways; surviving south entrance has canted porch of 1891 with a parapet
stepped at the centre with a cross finial; the archway beneath has a hood
and imposts and a rectangular light with cusped tracery to the left side;
within the south entrance has panels of blind tracery in the spandrels
within the square hood. Nave: 1832; broad and unaisled with embattled
parapet; buttresses with offsets at bay divisions and set-back buttresses
at west end; there is a narrow doorway to the tower stairs between the
north-west pair of buttresses; both elevations have a 2-light window in
their easternmost bay and two 3-light windows. Chancel: 1891; 5-light
east window with stepped sill string; two C13 style 2-light windows in
south elevation with continuous hood mould; north elevation has a cusped
lancet at its eastern end and from western end projects gabled vestry
and organ chamber with small hipped-roofed projection to east side; north
gable end has two pairs of cusped rectangular lights, a 3-light square-
headed window with quatrefoil opening above in the gable apex and a door
with a cambered head; steps with spear-headed railings lead down to a
basement door; blocked opening in west side and a 2-light and a single-light
opening on east side of hipped projection. Interior: round-headed chancel
arch of one shafted order and 4-centred tower arch, both of 1891. Nave
roof has slender hammer-beam trusses and chancel has a panelled barrel
roof. Chancel has a large 4-centred archway into organ chamber and south
windows have uncarved blocks for capitals; cusped pointed arched aumbry.
Octagonal font of 1832; other fittings of c1891 and slightly influenced
by Arts and Crafts Style. Memorials: in tower base is an oval late C18
memorial to the Crump family and an early and mid-C19 memorial to the
Clutton and Clutton Brock families. The church includes some remarkably
competent and archaeologically accurate Perpendicular detailing for its
1832 date; the windows of the tower and nave are of particular interest
in this respect. (BoE, p 234-5).

Listing NGR: SO7232268973

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26356761

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

• 
  Warwickshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Oxfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Lancashire: Liverpool and the South-West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Maintaining and Repairing Old Houses: A Guide to Conservation, Sustainability and Economy
• 
  Essex: Buildings of England Series (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Gloucestershire 1: The Cotswolds: Cotswolds Pt. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)