Description

AUDLEY C. P. CHURCH STREET (east
SJ 75 SE side)

4/5 Church of St. James

17.11.66

GV II*

Parish church. Circa 1300; restored and partially rebuilt in 1846 by
Scott. Dressed sandstone; plain tile roof with coped verges. Entirely
Decorated in style: West tower, 5-bay nave with side aisles; 3-bay
chancel. West tower. 4 stages with angle buttresses; cavetto moulded
belfry string, and moulded cornice to a plain parapet with crocketed
finials. Pointed west door with ogee and wave mouldings. 3-light
window above with segmental pointed arch, wave and roll-moulded surround,
and Geometric tracery; the mullions are roll and fillet-moulded. The "
tracery of the narrow pointed windows of the third stage has been partly
destroyed but appears to have consisted of 2 trefoil headed lights with
a foiled figure in the central spandrel. The larger belfry windows
are similar in character. Nave and aisles. The stonework is mainly
C19 including the clerestory which was added by Scott. This has sub-
cusped quatrefoil windows, a hollowed string above containing square
fleurons, and a low parapet with moulded spring. The South aisle has
buttresses at the bay divisions and at the corners, the latter projecting
diagonally. Square headed windows with quarter round-moulded openings
and trefoil headed lights. The 2 eastern windows have ogee-headed lights
and reticulated tracery whereas the 2 western windows are in a slightly
earlier style. Pointed 3-light west window with early C14 style Decorated
tracery, and a roll and fillet moulded dripstone with terminations carved
as human heads. Pointed east-window in a late C13 style with 3 trefoil-
headed lights, Geometric tracery, and roll and fillet moulded mullions.
C14 north aisle, slightly later than the rest of the building. Buttresses
at the bay divisions. 2-light windows with square heads, mainly C19
but one medieval window with ogee-headed lights survives, possibly mid
to late C14. C19 door to the west. C19/C20 east and west windows.
Chancel. Buttresses at the bay divisions and corners each with trefoil
headed panels and a crenellated cresting; the north west buttress is
partly obscured by the north aisle. Hollow moulded eaves cornice.
Pointed 2-light north window with hollow and wave moulded surrounds and
Geometric tracery; hood moulds with stops carved as human heads, and a
scroll-moulded sill string. Beneath the north-west window is a segmental.
pointed tomb recess with wave moulded surround, and at the east end of
this side is a trefoil headed recess or stoup. The south side is much
restored and has 3 pointed 2-light windows, a C19 pointed door and towards
the east end another tomb recess. 7-light pointed east window of 1846
with Decorated tracery. Interior. Early C14 nave arcades: pointed
arches of 2 chamfered orders on octagonal columns with moulded capitals.
High pointed tower arch of 3 segment moulded orders. High pointed and
chamfered chancel arch springing from imposts. C19 arch braced collar
roofs over the nave with arch braced ridge piece. The main braces spring
from stone corbels. C19 lean-to aisle roofs. The chancel has a similar
roof to that of the nave and a hollow moulded corona with carved human
heads and fleurons including ball flower. Well preserved sedilia and
piscina with trefoiled heads, finials, crocketed ogee hoods, and scroll
moulded string above terminated with carved heads. Flanking the east
window are a pair Of image brackets with crocketed canopies. The sanctuary
has C19 wall tiles with fleur de lys pattern and vine leaf frieze.
Fittings. Squat octagonal font. C14. Monuments. In the chancel
Sir John Delves. Later C14. Cusped and heavily moulded recess in
the north wall of the chancel with crocketed hood and finials. Effigy
of a knight, legs not crossed, his feet on a lion. Edward Vincent.
Died 1622. Recumbant effigy. William and Anne Abnet, died 1628.
Re-set brass. North aisle. Thomas and Mary Roylance. Early C18.
Aedicule with fluted pilasters and broken pediment. John Cradock,
died 1656. Chest tomb with black marble top and armorial engraving.
Stained glass. East window by William Wailes. B.o.E. p.64.

Listing NGR: SJ7989450888

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17557869

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

• 
  Churches: An Architectural Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
• 
  Listed Buildings, Conservation Areas and Monuments
• 
  Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius (Penguin Art & Architecture)
• 
  Herefordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  London 6: Westminster (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England): Westminster v. 6
• 
  Lancashire: Manchester and the South-East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)