Description

KINGTON

648/2/500 CHURCH OF ST JAMES
11-FEB-65

GV II*
DATES OF MAIN PHASES, NAME OF ARCHITECT:
Parish church of C13-C16, restored in 1881 by W.J. Hopkins.

MATERIALS: Sandstone and lias in regular courses, timber-framed gables and tower, tile roofs.

PLAN: Nave with aisled west tower, lower chancel, north porch.

EXTERIOR: In the buttressed nave the south wall was rebuilt in the C16 when the nave was widened, which explains why the tower and chancel are offset from it. The nave has C19 Decorated windows, two 2-light south windows with deep splays, a similar 2-light window and single-light window on the north side. The north doorway has a continuous chamfer and is within a C19 timber-framed porch. The buttressed chancel has plain and cusped south windows of the C13, C19 3-light Decorated east window, and a pointed and a small square-headed north window. The C15 tower has a stone base, incorporating aisles which have pointed north and south windows with sunk spandrels and square labels. The west doorway has a continuous chamfer; above, the close-studded framing has diagonal braces, simple 3-light wood-mullioned belfry openings, and a low saddleback roof.

INTERIOR: The nave and chancel have C19 keeled boarded wagon roofs with moulded ribs and bosses. In the nave there is a single moulded tie beam. Another tie beam is across the east end where the break with the chancel is marked by arched braces on corbels, with pierced spandrels. Walls are plastered. In the chancel is a big triangular-headed recess, and segmental-pointed aumbry in the north wall. Re-set corbel shelves flank the altar. Floors are C19 tiles, richer in the sanctuary, with wood floors below benches.

PRINCIPAL FIXTURES: The plain octagonal font is on a square base, medieval but not precisely dateable. Some pre C19 benches have square heads with chamfered edges. C19 benches have moulded edges and roundels with flowers in relief. The wooden pulpit is composed of 2 facets, with blind Gothic tracery and cornice made up of older woodwork, probably from a C16 rood screen that is said to have been removed in 1693. C19 choir stalls have moulded edges to shaped ends, probably contemporary with the nave benches. There are 2 late C20 stained-glass nave windows by John Petts of Abergavenny.

HISTORY: The church has a C13 core to the chancel and nave, although the latter was widened in the C16. The tower was built in the C15. The church was restored in 1881 by W.J. Hopkins, architect of Worcester. Substantial repairs were undertaken in 1962 when tile roofs and some timber framing were renewed.

SOURCES:
A. Brooks and N. Pevsner, The Buildings of England: Worcestershire, 2007, pp 418-19.
R. Haden, St James Church, Kington, 1985.

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION: The church of St James, Kington, is listed at Grade II* for the following principal reasons:
* It is a small aisleless church that retains much of its medieval fabric.
* For the special interest of its distinctive C15 timber-framed tower.

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17548786

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

• 
  Herefordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Devon (Pevsner Buildings of England)
• 
  Gloucestershire 1: The Cotswolds: Cotswolds Pt. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Devon (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability
• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990: Updated version