- St James' Church, Charfield
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St James' Church, Charfield 
St James' Church, Charfield, from the northLocation in Gloucestershire
St James' Church, CharfieldCoordinates: 51°37′05″N 2°24′26″W / 51.6180°N 2.4073°W OS grid reference ST 718 911 Location Charfield, Gloucestershire Country England Denomination Anglican Website Churches Conservation Trust Architecture Functional status Redundant Heritage designation Grade I Designated 30 March 1960 Architectural type Church Style Gothic Groundbreaking 13th century Completed 15th century Specifications Materials Stone with Cotswold stone slate roofs St James' Church, Charfield, is a redundant Anglican church in the village of Charfield, Gloucestershire, England. It has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade I listed building,[1] and is under the care of the Churches Conservation Trust.[2] It stands on a steep hillside overlooking a valley.[2]
Contents
History
The church originates from the 13th century.[1] It was largely rebuilt in the 15th century, using money from the local wool trade. During the 18th century the industry moved into the valley, isolating the church.[2] It was repaired during the 1970s.[1]
Architecture
St James' is constructed in stone rubble, with Cotswold stone slate roofs. Its plan consists of a nave with a south aisle and a north porch, a chancel, and a west tower. The tower is in four stages with diagonal buttresses. In the top stage are two-light bell openings, and the parapet is battlemented.[1] On top of the tower is a saddleback roof.[2] In the north wall of the nave are two three-light windows, between which is a porch with a pierced parapet and a niche for a statue. The chancel contains two three-light windows in the north wall, a three-light east window, and a blocked priest's door. Along the wall of the south aisle are three three-light windows.[1]
Internally, between the nave and the south aisle is a three-bay arcade with octagonal piers. In the nave is a squint. The chancel contains a trefoil-headed piscina and the remains of heads to image niches. There are memorials dated 1717 and 1756.[1]
External features
The churchyard contains five separate chest tombs, and a group of four chest tombs, all of which are designated as Grade II listed buildings. They all date from the 18th century and are in limestone ashlar.[3][4][5][6][7] The group of four tombs date from the same period and are surrounded by cast iron railings.[8] Also in the churchyard is a memorial to the 15 people who were killed in the Charfield railway disaster in 1928.[9]
See also
- List of churches preserved by the Churches Conservation Trust in the English Midlands
References
- ^ a b c d e f "St James' Church, Charfield", The National Heritage List for England (English Heritage), 2011, http://list.english-heritage.org.uk/resultsingle.aspx?uid=1321189, retrieved 13 May 2011
- ^ a b c d St James' Church, Charfield, Gloucestershire, Churches Conservation Trust, http://www.visitchurches.org.uk/Ourchurches/Completelistofchurches/St-James-Church-Charfield-Gloucestershire/, retrieved 29 March 2011
- ^ "Chest tomb 6 yards southeast of chancel of St James' Church, Charfield", The National Heritage List for England (English Heritage), 2011, http://list.english-heritage.org.uk/resultsingle.aspx?uid=1114962, retrieved 13 May 2011
- ^ "Chest tomb 10 yards southeast of priest's door of St James' Church, Charfield", The National Heritage List for England (English Heritage), 2011, http://list.english-heritage.org.uk/resultsingle.aspx?uid=1114963, retrieved 13 May 2011
- ^ "Chest tomb 11 yards southeast of priest's door of St James' Church, Charfield", The National Heritage List for England (English Heritage), 2011, http://list.english-heritage.org.uk/resultsingle.aspx?uid=1321190, retrieved 13 May 2011
- ^ "Chest tomb 12 yards southeast of priest's door of St James' Church, Charfield", The National Heritage List for England (English Heritage), 2011, http://list.english-heritage.org.uk/resultsingle.aspx?uid=1114964, retrieved 13 May 2011
- ^ "Chest tomb 13 yards southeast of priest's door of St James' Church, Charfield", The National Heritage List for England (English Heritage), 2011, http://list.english-heritage.org.uk/resultsingle.aspx?uid=1321191, retrieved 13 May 2011
- ^ "Group of 4 chest tombs 3 yards southwest of south door of St James' Church, Charfield", The National Heritage List for England (English Heritage), 2011, http://list.english-heritage.org.uk/resultsingle.aspx?uid=1114965, retrieved 13 May 2011
- ^ Mystery of train death children, BBC, 13 October 2008, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/gloucestershire/7667017.stm, retrieved 24 October 2010
Categories:- Grade I listed buildings in Gloucestershire
- Grade I listed churches
- Church of England churches in Gloucestershire
- 13th-century church buildings
- 13th-century architecture
- 15th-century architecture
- Churches preserved by the Churches Conservation Trust
- Churches in South Gloucestershire
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