Akeley: St James
Overview
Grid reference: SP 691 375
The church is a simple building in the Middle Pointed or Decorated style. The plan is given some interest by the unusual placing of the tower on the south side of the aisleless nave, and the outline of the church is thereby made more varied. It is further improved by the short spirelet capping the staircase turret at the north-west angle.
Visiting and facilities
Building is open for worship
Building
Ground Plan Description and Dimensions
Ground plan:
Four-bay aisleless nave with south tower acting also as the porch; two-bay chancel with north vestry.
Description of Archaeology and History
The church was rebuilt on the site of a mediaeval predecessor in 1854 to designs by John Tarring. The builder was Franklin of Deddington and the estimate was £1,500. The Incorporated Church Building Society gave £100. The foundation stone was laid by the Warden of New College on 20 June 1854 and the church was consecrated by the Bishop of Oxford on 31st July 1855.
The mediaeval church was a small building of little architectural pretension consisting of a chancel, nave and south porch with a boarded bell-cote on the west gable. The south doorway was plain Norman and the chancel had a two-light Decorated window on the south side and a low-side window with a trefoiled head, the east window being square headed and Perpendicular in style.
Exterior Description
The church is a simple building in the Middle Pointed or Decorated style. The plan is given some interest by the unusual placing of the tower on the south side of the aisleless nave, and the outline of the church is thereby made more varied. It is further improved by the short spirelet capping the staircase turret at the north-west angle. The tower is of four stages. The lowest has a doorway in the south wall facing the churchyard gate and the second stage also only has an opening in the south wall, a window with a two-centred arch enclosing an ogee cusped head. The third stage houses the clock, and again the only opening is the clock face on the south. The belfry is thus the only one of the four stages to have openings on all four sides; three of these are identical - on west, north and east- and take the form of the single-light window in the second stage. The south opening, however is of two lights with a pointed quatrefoil in the head. The parapet is embattled and the stair is housed in an octagonal turret at the north-west angle which rises above the parapet to terminate in an octagonal pinnacle capped by a weathervane. The south-west and south east corners have angle buttresses rising to the level of the top of the third stage with one gabletted off-set and two further plain off-sets.
The body of the nave is quite simple, with two- light windows in each bay with differing patterns of tracery placed symmetrically and the bays divided by plain buttresses. At the west end is a three-light window with cusped intersecting tracery. The blue slate roof has an ornamental cresting of blue ridge tiles. The chancel has two single-light windows in the south wall of the same design as those in the tower and one in the north wall, the place of the other being taken up by the small vestry with a door in the north wall and a window in the east wall. The chancel east window is of four lights with curvilinear tracery and a circle containing three cusped triangles in the tracery. The side walls are divided into bays by plain buttresses and the table has a carved cross at the apex and the foundation stone, incised with the date 1854 in large arabic numerals, at the foot below the east window. The roof has pierced ridge tiles like those on the nave.
Building Fabric and Features
Stained Glass
1884
Only in the east window, four lights by Mayer of Munich, inserted in 1884 and representing The Nativity, The Baptism of Christ, The Angel at the Sepulchre and The Supper at Emmaus, in memory of The Revd. J. Holford Risley, Rector for thirty- three years who must therefore have been the Rector responsible for rebuilding the church and for building the (former) Rectory nearby.
Interior
Interior Description
The interior of the church is reached through the ground floor of the tower, with a small doorway in the north-west corner giving access to the staircase which is a timber construction of oak within a brick-lined wall. The walls of the nave are plastered and painted white, leaving the window tracery and surrounds of exposed stone. The alley is paved with red and buff tiles and the flooring under the pews is of timber boarding. The open timber roof is stained and varnished, of four bays with collar and arch braces and exposed rafters. The chancel arch has two orders of simple wave-moulding and the chancel is raised one step above the level of the nave, the floor beyond the step being paved with hexagonal tiles of the same two colours as those in the nave. The organ is placed in the north-east corner of the nave and the pulpit in the south-east corner. The font is near the entrance. The chancel is arranged in the usual fashion with stalls for the choir and a single step at the communion rail, the table in the chancel being set forward without a reredos but only a green velvet curtain. The only stained glass is in the east window and on each side are metal panels with the Decalogue painted upon them. A doorway on the north side leads into the small vestry.
Fixtures and fittings
Altar
The communion table is of oak, with a very strong framework of curved struts with chamfered edges.
Pulpit
c.1855
The pulpit is octagonal, of oak with blind recessed panels in each face and a heavy moulded base.
Lectern
The lectern is an oak reading desk on a pedestal.
Font (object)
The font is octagonal, of Painswick stone, with a square base and mouldings at the top and bottom of the octagonal stem. Each panel of the bowl is recessed at the lower edge with trefoiled arches peculiarly decorated with single elements of dogtooth, each housing a shell (for St. James) in relief. There is also a text carved in relief in Gothic lettering.
Organ (object)
1901
The organ is a small two-manual instrument of 1901 by Bishop and Son, with seven speaking stops in a plain wooden case with simple pipe-fronts.
Churchyard
Grid reference: SP 691 375
Burial and War Grave Information
It is unknown whether the building is consecrated.
It is unknown whether the churchyard has been used for burial.
It is unknown whether the churchyard is used for burial.
The churchyard has war graves.
Environment
Ancient, Veteran & Notable Trees
Caring for God's Acre is a conservation charity working to support groups and individuals to investigate, care for, and enjoy the wildlife and heritage treasures found within churchyards and other burial grounds. Look on their website for information and advice and please contact their staff directly. They can help you manage this churchyard for people and wildlife.
To learn more about all the species recorded against this church, go to the Burial Ground Portal within the NBN Atlas. You can check the spread of records through the years, discovering what has been recorded and when, plus what discoveries might remain to be uncovered.
There are no records of Ancient, Veteran or Notable Trees within the curtilage of this site.
Renewables
| Renewable | Installed |
|---|---|
| Solar PV Panels | No |
| Solar Thermal Panels | No |
| Biomass | No |
| Wind Turbine | No |
| Air Source Heat Pump | No |
| Ground Source Heat Pump | No |
| Ev Charging | No |
Species summary
There are no records of species within the curtilage of this site.
Caring for God's Acre is a conservation charity working to support groups and individuals to investigate, care for, and enjoy the wildlife and heritage treasures found within churchyards and other burial grounds. Look on their website for information and advice and please contact their staff directly. They can help you manage this churchyard for people and wildlife.
To learn more about all the species recorded against this church, go to the Burial Ground Portal within the NBN Atlas. You can check the spread of records through the years, discovering what has been recorded and when, plus what discoveries might remain to be uncovered.
'Seek advice' Species
More information on species and action to be taken upon discovery.
Caring for God's Acre is a conservation charity working to support groups and individuals to investigate, care for, and enjoy the wildlife and heritage treasures found within churchyards and other burial grounds. Look on their website for information and advice and please contact their staff directly. They can help you manage this churchyard for people and wildlife.
To learn more about all the species recorded against this church, go to the Burial Ground Portal within the NBN Atlas. You can check the spread of records through the years, discovering what has been recorded and when, plus what discoveries might remain to be uncovered.
Further information
Submit a change
If you notice something incorrect or missing, please explain it in the form below and submit it to our team for review.