CHURCH OF ST JAMES

Overview

Location

Details

SJ 86 NE GAWSWORTH C.P. CHURCH LANE

5/7 Church of St James

14.4.67

GV I

Church. C15 and C16. Yellow and red sandstone ashlar with lead roof Western tower, nave and chancel. Perpendicular. Tower: of red sandstone and c.1497 - 1536. West Face: moulded plinth with diagonal buttresses. Central western doorway with 4-centred arch with quatrefoils and daggers to spandrels. Row of square panels above containing pointed quatrefoils. Cyma-moulded string course above. Three-light window above with hood mould and figurehead stops. Canopied niche above supported by angel bearing a shield. Crocket to canopy. At this same level are similar, smaller canopied niches to the outer faces of the diagonal buttresses, crockets to canopies. Three shields in relief above central niche with circular clock face above them. String course below belfry stage which has 2-light louvred openings with hood moulds and figure head label-stops. Further row of square decorated panels below battlemented parapet which has gargoyles to centres and angles, above which rise panelled piers with crocketed pinnacles. South and North faces have shields and similar belfry stage and above. Nave: of yellow sandstone indicating earlier date than tower and chancel. Moulded plinth common to rest of nave and chancel. Three bays with windows of three lights gradually widening towards east, each having hood mould with label stops of human and animal form. Buttresses between bays terminating in square panelled piers and crocketed pinnacles. Diagonal buttresses at right and left indicating original termination points before tower and chancel were added. Later Perpendicular porch of red sandstone imposed between first and second bays from left with diagonal buttresses. Door with four-centred arch and circular panels to spandrels with canopied niche over. Large gargoyles to sides supporting octagonal panelled and crocketed pinnacles. Plaid parapet between these with chamfered coping. Porch reveals have 2-light windows, that at left having label stops of paired heads. North face similar save for absence of porch. Door at first bay to right. Chancel: Yellow sandstone, lower courses re-used from western end of nave when tower arch was introduced. Upper courses of red sandstone. South face: two bays. Windows, wider than those to nave, of three lights with buttress between and angle buttress at right. Priest's door to right of left hand bay. North side is similar. Eastern end: 5-light central window with figurehead label stops to hood-mould. Sanctus bellcote to gable apex with panelled sides and cross to summit. Interior: Panelled ceiling to nave with moulded principals supported on wall posts and arched braces rising from figurehead corbels. Chancel ceiling of square panels. Remnants of sides of original Eastern window evident in nave. Chancel screen of 1894 by J Oldrid Scott, based upon that at Elvaston, Derbyshire. Octagonal C16 panelled ashlar font on C19 stem with wooden cover, probably by J Oldrid Scott. Monuments to Francis Fitton of 1608, a table tomb with effigy above and skeleton below. Sir Edward Fitton and wife of 1619: two recumbent effigies with children kneeling along the tomb-chest and with a wall-plate behind to east wall. Dame Alice Fitton of 1627 seated figure in widow's garb. Children kneeling in front of and behind her. Sir Edward Fitton of 1643 and wife. Tomb-chest with recumbent effigies and figure of girl. Wall plate to eastern wall and trophy to south wall. Originally having a canopy over.

Source: Nikolaus Pevsner & Edward Hubbard - The Buildings of England:Cheshire.

Listing NGR: SJ8901069688

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

58593

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Pevsner, N, Hubbard, E, The Buildings of England: Cheshire, (1971)

Legal

This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.