Church of St James

Details

SO 95 NW; 6/178 (19/21)

HUDDINGTON CP;
HUDDINGTON

Church of St James

(Formerly listed as Church of St Michael)

14.03.69

GV

I

Parish church. C12 origins, partly rebuilt C14 and C15 with C16 alterations,
restored late C19, possibly by George Gilbert Scott. Part lias limestone
rubble with sandstone dressings, part sandstone ashlar, timber-framed bell
turret and plain tiled roofs with parapets at gable ends. Three-bay nave
with bell turret, south aisle and north porch, two-bay chancel. Decorated
and Perpendicular styles.

Nave: C12 masonry in north and south walls, west
end either rebuilt or refaced; north elevation has two buttresses with off-
sets; west end has a 2-light C14 window and there are two similar windows
in the north elevation and one in the south elevation; the east window of
the north elevation has C19 tracery; at the west end of the north elevation
is a C12 lancet; to the left of it is the C12 round-headed doorway which
has a similar smaller opposing door in the south elevation; the jambs of
both doors were chamfered in C14. The small bell turret has rendered infill
and square 2-light louvred bell chamber openings; the pyramidal roof above
has broad eaves and a cast-iron cross finial. The south aisle is of two bays
with a separate roof and was added in C14; the east end window is C14 and the
south and west windows are both C16 and square headed; all are of two lights;
there is a stone chimney with off-sets at the junction of aisle and chancel.
The north porch is C16, gabled and timber-framed on low C19 lias limestone
side walls; the posts and tie beams of outer and inner gables are moulded and
chamfered to form an ogee arch; the outer tie beam is brattished and above
the bargeboards form a cinquefoiled arch with an ogee head; the open sides
of the porch are divided by three moulded wood shafts and, above, the wall-
plates are also moulded. Chancel: rebuilt late C15; faced with sandstone
ashlar with a chamfered plinth, two diagonal buttresses with off-sets at the
east end and a buttress with off-sets at the junction with the nave on the
north side; 3-light east window and two square-headed 2-light windows in
north and south elevations; the south elevation has a central blocked
doorway with a 4-centred head and hoodmould with foliated stops.

INTERIOR:
two-bay south arcade, C14 and possibly recut C17; piers are quatrefoil in
section with hollowed re-entrant angles, moulded capitals and pointed arches
are of two moulded orders. C16 wagon roofs, formerly plastered. Chancel
has a defaced image niche surmounted by a shield either side of the altar;
pointed-arched piscina supported on pilaster with chamfered angles; C17 altar
table with spiral legs, mid-C17 altar rails and panelling made from former
box pews; choir stalls are c1520 with linenfold panels. Jacobean rood screen
with brattished rood beam and widely-spaced balusters; pews are probably C17;
octagonal font with moulded base. South aisle has C15 tiles set on west wall,
a blocked piscina in the south wall, an image bracket on the east wall, a C17
altar table and two parish chests, one of which is decoratively carved and
probably late medieval. Memorials: in the south aisle is a wall memorial
in black and white marble to Sir George Wintour, died 1658, with Corinthian
columns and a coat of arms; in the chancel is a brass inscription tablet
to Adrian Fortescue, died 1653, in a C20 wooden surround. Glass: south and
west aisle windows contain fragments of C15 and C16 heraldic glass; east window
of chancel has a restored Crucifixus with the Virgin and St John of the early
C16. A small medieval church containing some good C17 fittings and C15 tiles.

Listing NGR: SO9428957252

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

147854

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Doubleday, AH, Page, W, The Victoria History of the County of Worcester, (1913), 412
Pevsner, N, The Buildings of England: Worcestershire, (1968), 199

End of official list entry

All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.