Church of St James

Details

COLN ST DENNIS COLN ST DENNIS VILLAGE SP 0810-0910 14/118 Church of St James 26.1.61

GV I

Anglican parish church. C12 and C15, restored 1890 by Waller and in 1904 by William Weir. Coursed finely squared and dressed limestone; stone slate roof. Chancel, nave with projecting central tower. C12 nave with clasping buttresses at the west end. Nave north wall: Perpendicular 2-light hollow-chamfered stone-mullioned window with trefoil-headed lights and hood with carved head stops to left of porch. C19 plank door within porch with C12 surround of two orders with thin engaged jamb shafts with simple scalloped capitals and a billeted hood mould. Billeted string at the west end interrupted by a Perpendicular 3-light window. Nave south wall: C14 two-light window with quatrefoil to right of C19 vestry which obscures the C12 south door with plain tympanum and billeted hood. Small round-headed C12 window with recessed surround to the right of the latter. C15 parapet to nave. Central C12 three-stage tower with C15 upper stage and projecting stairs at the south-west corner and pilaster buttresses (strengthened on the east with massive C15 buttresses with offsets). Tall trefoil-headed lancets to the ground floor on the south side, to the right of a blocked C12 priests' door with dressed stone lintel and a plain tympanum and moulded hood. Single light with flat-chamfered surround and a continuous dripmould to the belfry stage. String course and band below. North side of tower: tall trefoil-headed lancet to the ground floor; blocked 2-light belfry window formerly with two round-headed openings with central jamb shaft. Battlemented C15 upper stage with 2-light trefoil-headed belfry windows with stone slate louvres. C12 chancel with clasping buttresses; north and south walls partially rebuilt reusing the C12 stonework; billeted string at the east end; similar billeted strings at the same level on the north and south (now set back into wall); traces of former corbel table below. Pointed C14 2-light south window with tracery and stepped hood. Three-light Perpendicular east window with transom and stopped hood. Perpendicular 2-light rectangular north window with stopped hood. Late Perpendicular north porch with tall pointed hollowed-chamfered entrance with early plank door dated 1637, with fillets and strap hinges. Stepped coping and C19 Maltese cross finial to the chancel; flat coping and roll-cross saddle to the porch. Church interior: 4-bay nave; base of tower forms choir; single-bay chancel. Restored Perpendicular roof to nave with braced chamfered tie beams with fine reset C12 grotesque head corbels. Late C19- early C20 panelled wagon roof to chancel (formerly vaulted - see later). Flattened C12 west tower arch of two orders with engaged jamb shafts with simple scalloped capitals. The east arch is rebuilt with a Perpendicular pointed arch on C12 piers matching those of the west tower arch. Early studded plank priests door with strap hinges on the south side with plain tympanum and stopped hood on the south side of the tower. The chancel has in each of its four corners an engaged C12 shaft with a scalloped capital indicating the former presence of a vaulted ceiling. Mutilated round-headed piscina with roll moulding in the south wall of the chancel. Chamfered string (interrupted by the base of the later window) to the east wall of the chancel. C12 hood moulds over the north and south doorways in the nave formerly continued around nave. Coloured tile flooring to nave and chancel. Fixtures and fittings: C12 tub-shaped font, chamfered at a later date into eight roughly shaped scallops to fit an octagonal pedestal. C19 wooden pews, pulpit, lectern, communion rail and altar table. Monuments on nave north wall: oval marble tablet with heraldry to Benjamin Kemp Bart, died 1777; grey marble monument to John Kirril, died 1762. Monuments on south wall: limestone monument on south wall of nave to John Bridges, died 1679, and other members of that family with bolection-moulded surround and cherub's head within a segmental hood flanked by finials. North wall of chancel: limestone monument to Joahne Burton daughter of Richard Burton, died 1631 with moulded triangular pediment; limestone monument to John House, died 1760, Mary House, died 1743 and other members of that family with foliate marginal panels. Chancel: Three C18 ledgers (two set in floor) to members of the Hughes family. Three small C19 tablets to members of the Price family in the splay of the south window. (David Verey, The Buildings of England: The Cotswolds, 1979; and V.C.H. Vol. VIII, P32-33).

Listing NGR: SP0859210936

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

131143

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Verey, D, The Buildings of England: Gloucestershire 1 The Cotswolds, (1970)
Page, W, The Victoria History of the County of Gloucester, (1969), 32-33

End of official list entry

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