Old Church of St James
OLD CHURCH OF ST JAMES, ROYDON ROAD
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- I
- List Entry Number:
- 1078730
- Date first listed:
- 24-Jan-1967
- List Entry Name:
- Old Church of St James
- Statutory Address:
- OLD CHURCH OF ST JAMES, ROYDON ROAD
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Location
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Images of England Project
- Date:
- 2000-08-09
- Reference:
- IOE01/02725/16
- Rights:
- © Mr A. Gude. Source: Historic England Archive
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Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- I
- List Entry Number:
- 1078730
- Date first listed:
- 24-Jan-1967
- List Entry Name:
- Old Church of St James
- Statutory Address 1:
- OLD CHURCH OF ST JAMES, ROYDON ROAD
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
Location
- Statutory Address:
- OLD CHURCH OF ST JAMES, ROYDON ROAD
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- County:
- Hertfordshire
- District:
- East Hertfordshire (District Authority)
- Parish:
- Stanstead Abbots
- National Grid Reference:
- TL 39972 11061
Details
TL 31NW STANSTEAD ABBOTS ROYDON ROAD (north side) Tarbets Hill 5/43 Old Church of St James
24.1.67
GV I
Church, now vested in Redundant Churches Fund. Nave probably C12, chancel without structural division C13, W tower and S porch C15, large NE chapel in brick dated 1577 in relief panel on E gable. Uncoursed flint rubble incorporating Roman tiles, C16 brickwork in NE chapel and E end of chancel, stone dressings. Old red tiled roofs. Continuous roof over nave and chancel. Short leaded spire with tiled lower slopes. Timber-framed S-porch with cusped original bargeboards, 3-centred arched entrance and crown- post roof on cambered tie-beams. C13 S-door of 2 chamfered orders, next window on W C13 altered in C15, when 2 2-light traceried windows were also inserted to the E of the porch. No openings but blocked doorway in N wall of nave. C15 crown-post roof of 3 bays plastered under the collars, continues over 2- bay chancel without crown-post on the cambered tie beam. Lower part of C15 screen built into pews. Chancel has C15 3-light E window, 4-bay N arcade on octagonal piers (3 western bays of 1577: E bay later). 2 2-light C15 windows in S wall, and a C13 double piscina. NE chapel has plastered waggon roof, Perp E window of 3 4-centred lights under a 4-centred arch, 2 2-light N windows (straight-headed under hoodmoulds), and a small W door. Tall 2-stage embattled tower with diagonal buttresses and projecting polygonal SE stair turret carried above the parapet. Early C15 tower arch of 2 moulded orders with shafted jambs and moulded caps. Contemporary W door of 2 moulded orders, the outer square, 3-light window over door, and 2-light bell chamber openings with quartrefoil and hood mould over. Fittings include C13 circular font on octagonal C15 pedestal, C16 2-decker pulpit (inlaid tester now door in tower screen), heraldic stained glass in NE chapel dated 1573, Royal Arms and commandment boards on E wall, 3 hatchments and a Tortoise stove in the Nave, medieval S door, head of tower screen said to be C15 rood beam, wall monument to Sir Edward Baeshe 1587 on N wall of chapel and painted inscriptions on N and E walls, brasses in chancel and nave, 3 bells of 1605, 1617 and 1790, 2 wall monuments by the younger Bacon (Paul Fielde 1805 and Robert Jocelyn 1806), tablets in nave including Philip Booth 1818 by Bacon and Manning, H T Baucutt Nash 1825 by Kendrick, Mary Booth 1848, and Sir Felix Booth 1850 both by Manning. Whitewashed interior with box pews and nave pulpit on S wall preserves the C18 village character. On a conspicuous hilltop site overlooking the Lea marshes. Of outstanding interest as a medieval church with unrestored C18 interior. (RCHM (1911) 209-10, VCH (1912) 371-2, Pevsner (1977) 342).
Listing NGR: TL3997211061
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 355946
- Legacy System:
- LBS
Sources
Books and journals
Doubleday, A, The Victoria History of the County of Hertford, (1912), 371-2
Pevsner, N, Cherry, B, The Buildings of England: Hertfordshire, (1977), 342
Other
Inventory of the Historical Monuments of Hertfordshire, (1910)
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 06-Jun-2026 at 23:07:55.
Download a full scale map (PDF)End of official list entry
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