Description

KINGSTON VILLAGE CENTRE
SX 64 NW
4/34
Church of St James the
Less
26.1.67
GV II*

Anglican parish church. C14 and C15 with major restoration in 1893. Thin
coursed granite rubble with granite dressings, slate roofs to coped gables.
Nave, west tower, south porch, south chapel and north aisle. Square tower in 2
stages to battlemented coping on corbel table, diagonal buttresses in two
stages, raised stair turret north east corner. West front has small door to
segmental head under a 3-light Perpendicular window in limestone with 2 rows of
voussoirs, simple stopped drip-mould; 2 small cusped louvred lights to bell
stage, also to east, single lights north and south on two levels. Plinth. Nave
south side has C14 2-light with quatrefoil each side of gable porch with plain
responds to 4-centred arch; inner doorway round arched, chamfered, small
voussoirs, containing late medieval 3-plank door with strap hinges. Step down
into porch and into nave. Chapel has 3-light Perpendicular window in south wall
and 2-light quasi-plate traceried east window. Chancel south, is two 2-light
similar to nave, with central priests door in plank and filled-in square-headed
opening; east end has low diagonal buttresses and a 3-light Perpendicular
window; north side plain. North aisle has 3-light re-cut Perpendicular at east
end of L893, and three 3-light uncusped in 4-centred arches with drip-moulds in
north wall. Far right is door in moulded granite surround to 4-centred head,
plank and batten door. Large square buttress to corner and 3-light window to
west end. Interior: walls mainly stripped of plaster. Nave entered by 5 steps
down from porch, 4-bay arcade of 4 shafts and 4 hollows, trumpet caps, 4-centred
arches to double hollow, pointed barrel roof, mostly C19. No break to chancel;
plate to roof has leaf decoration. North aisle has C19 barrel roof. South
chapel (Worwell Chapel) also stripped walls, squint to main altar, aumbry right
of window, vertical blocked opening or statue niche to left. Tower interior
whitewashed; has 4 steps down from west entrance and further 4 Into nave, taking
up fall in ground slope. Fittings and monuments: mainly of the late C19 restor-
ation - a panel in the porch records that the ICBS gave £30 in 1892 towards
re-seating and repairs. C15 octagonal font set on good 1702 slate slab to
Elizabeth, wife of Herbert F....d. Priest's seat formed from medieval bench
ends. A good late C18 memorial slab below north aisle east window, includes
inscription to Frances Stephens, 1773, aged 11 months. In the Worwell Chapel, a
marble monument to John Wise of Worwell (q.v), died 1807. Medieval ring of 4
bells, now augmented to six. A tablet in the north wall gives Edmund Stedding
as architect in 1891: the restoration was completed two years later, at which
time a lean-to vestry on the north side was removed.
(Pevsner, South Devon, 1952; Kingston: A South Hams Village, 1980).

Listing NGR: SX6352947795

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17533640

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

• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990: Updated version
• 
  Derbyshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Surrey (The Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Drawing up a Local Listed Building Consent Order: Historic England Advice Note 6
• 
  Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability