Description

NUNEATON AND BEDWORTH SCHOOL ROAD
SP38NE (North side)
Bulkington
5/66
Church of St. James
01/07/49 (Formerly listed as Parish
Church of St. James)
GV II*

Church. Early C13 nave and south aisle, late C13 north aisle; south aisle
altered c,1300; C14 chancel; C14/C15 tower; C15/C16 south clerestory. Restored,
roofs renewed and vestry added 1865 by G.T.Robinson. Tower restored and porch
added 1907. Regular coursed and ashlar sandstone of various types; porch of
regular coursed limestone. Tile roofs have C19 coped gable parapets and cross
finials; south aisle has lead lean-to roof with moulded cornice and parapet.
Aisled nave, chancel, west tower, north vestry, south porch. 2-bay chancel,
5-bay nave. Chancel has splay and moulded plinth, stepped down on east wall.
Angle and south buttresses of 3 offsets. 4-light Perpendicular east window has
renewed tracery. Most windows throughout have hood moulds. South doorway has
deep hollow-chamfered ogee arch and C19 plank door. Two 2-light windows to north
and south have renewed Decorated tracery. Vestry has 2-light mullioned east
window with decorative chamfering, and large external stack to north. Aisles and
porch have splay plinth. Porch has buttresses of 2 offsets flush with front.
Early English-style doorway has moulded arch and nook shafts, and double-leaf
plank doors. Straight-headed windows of 2 ogee lights. South aisle has diagonal
and south buttresses with splayed offsets; south east buttress has gablet. East
side and second bay from east have windows of c.1300 with cusped Y-tracery and
roll-mouldings, largely restored to east. Large C15/C16 straight-headed
south-east window of 3 Tudor-arched lights. 2-light windows east and west of
porch and to west have C19 geometrical tracery. Straight-headed 3-light
Perpendicular clerestory windows. North aisle has angle and 2 north buttresses
of 2 offsets. 3-light east and west windows have reticulated tracery. Renewed
2-light, and -3-light north east, straight-headed Perpendicular windows. Blocked
doorway of 2 chamfered orders. Perpendicular tower of 2 high stages has splay
and. moulded plinth. Diagonal buttresses of 4 offsets with ogee niche to top
stage. Elaborately moulded Tudor arch west doorway has hood would with remains
of crocketing. Studded and panelled door has applied tracery. Large 3-light
window has panel tracery, largely renewed, and hood mould with finial,
crocketing and head stops. Second stage has small trefoiled ogee opening with
crocketed gable; south side has similar windows with remains of carved beasts to
staircase in west corner, and painted clock face to second stage. Tudor-arched
2- light bell-chamber openings have transom and louvres. Embattled parapet has
crocketed pinnacles. Interior is plastered. Chancel has boarded 4-bay barrel
roof with moulded arched braces and moulded stone corbels and cornice. Early
English-style north and chancel arches of 1865. North arch of 2 elaborately
moulded orders, the inner on colonnettes, with stiff-leaf capitals. Aumbry to
south has ogee arch and leaf carving. Squint in south west corner. Chancel arch
of 1865 of 3 moulded orders and composite piers with large stiff-leaf capitals,
on high pedestals. Nave has 5-bay arched brace roof with carved stone corbels.
Early C13 north and late C13 south 5-bay arcades of 2 chamfered orders,
octagonal piers and half-octagon responds; south arcade has rudimentary crocket
capitals; north arcade has moulded capitals. Carved heads between arches are all
C19 except that to the north west. Tower arch of 2 chamfered orders. North aisle
has arched brace roof. Late C13 tomb recess in north wall has moulded inner and
chamfered outer orders, and remains of shafts. South aisle has lean-to roof.
Fittings: font carved and given by Richard Hayward of Weston Hall (q.v.) in 1789
has small white marble bowl with reliefs of the Baptism of Christ etc. on 3
dolphin feet; base made from an antique Roman column drum of coloured marble has
oval panel with an inscription and date. Altar slab, now mounted on chancel
north wall, has small oval relief of the Last Supper by Hayward. Box pews
installed 1821. Encaustic tiles and other fittings of c.1865. Stained glass;
east window dated 1867. Monuments: north aisle: wall monument to his parents by
Hayward 1781. Relief of a mourning woman surrounded by Gothic ruins, and below a
sarcophagus inscription panel and mourning angels. Mary Hayward, 1788, and
Richard Hayward, 1800, possibly partly by Hayward: relief of a mourning woman by
a sarcophagus, with oval panel below.
(VCH: Warwickshire: VolVI, pp53-56; Buildings of England: Warwickshire: pp220;
The Parish Church of St. James Bulkington (guide))

Listing NGR: SP3912086763

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17550754

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

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  The green guide for historic buildings: how to improve the environmental performance of listed and historic buildings
• 
  Suffolk: West: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Churches: An Architectural Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
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  Norfolk 1: Norwich and North-East: Norwich and North-east v. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Specifications for Building Conservation: Volume 1: External Structure: Practical Examples v. 2
• 
  Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius (Penguin Art & Architecture)