The Church of St James in Bramley,

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

, England was built in the

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

period and has been added to since. It is a Grade I

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

History

The

church had a west tower added in 1636, replacing a previous wooden tower. Part of the

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

was added by

John Soane Sir John Soane (; né Soan; 10 September 1753 – 20 January 1837) was an English architect who specialised in the Neoclassical architecture, Neo-Classical style. The son of a bricklayer, he rose to the top of his profession, becoming professo ...

in 1802. The parish is part of the

benefice A benefice () or living is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The Roman Empire used the Latin term as a benefit to an individual from the Empire for services rendered. Its use was adopted by ...

Sherfield on Loddon Sherfield on Loddon—formerly ''Sherfield upon Loddon''—is a village and civil parish in the English county of Hampshire. It is located at , approximately south of Reading and north of Basingstoke. At the 2001 census it had a pop ...

Stratfield Saye Stratfield Saye is a small village and civil parish in the Borough of Basingstoke and Deane and the English county of Hampshire. The parish includes the hamlets of West End Green, Fair Oak Green and Fair Cross. Etymology The name means 'Street-F ...

and

Hartley Wespall Hartley Wespall is a civil parish in the Basingstoke and Deane district of Hampshire, England. It is near the larger village of Hook, which lies approximately 2.5 miles (4.1 km) south-west from the hamlet. St.Mary Church is flint with a Til ...

with

Stratfield Turgis Stratfield Turgis is a small village and civil parish in the north-east of the English county of Hampshire. History The name of Stratfield Turgis derives from its origins on open land (Old English feld) by the Roman road (Old English stræt) fro ...

, Bramley and Little London within the

Diocese of Winchester The Diocese of Winchester forms part of the Province of Canterbury of the Church of England. Founded in 676, it is one of the older dioceses in England. It once covered Wessex, many times its present size which is today most of the historic enla ...

Architecture

The

flint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Flint was widely used historically to make stone tools and start fir ...

building has stone dressings and a tiled roof. The walls are supported by

buttress A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient buildings, as a means of providing support to act against the lateral (s ...

es. The south porch and three-stage tower are of red brickwork. Some of the windows in the north wall remain from the original Norman structure. The interior includes a 13th-century

piscina A piscina is a shallow basin placed near the altar of a church, or else in the vestry or sacristy, used for washing the communion vessels. The sacrarium is the drain itself. Anglicans usually refer to the basin, calling it a piscina. For Roman ...

while the screen, benches,

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, access ...

and communion rail are from the 16th to 18th centuries.

Wall paintings

In the 1870s, Charles Eddy, vicar of the church, uncovered a large number of wall paintings and painted scriptural texts dating to the 13th through 16th centuries which had been whitewashed over in 1550–1551 during the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

. The earliest paintings are on the south wall, and depict a series of martyrdoms, the best preserved being a depiction of the murder of

Thomas Becket Thomas Becket (), also known as Saint Thomas of Canterbury, Thomas of London and later Thomas à Becket (21 December 1119 or 1120 – 29 December 1170), was an English nobleman who served as Lord Chancellor from 1155 to 1162, and then ...

by four knights in 1170. On the north wall is 16th-century depiction of

St Christopher Saint Christopher ( el, Ἅγιος Χριστόφορος, ''Ágios Christóphoros'') is venerated by several Christian denominations as a martyr killed in the reign of the 3rd-century Roman emperor Decius (reigned 249–251) or alternatively u ...

which bears a remarkable likeness to contemporary portraits of

King Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disag ...

. The north wall also has paintings of scriptural texts (

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

3:5, Psalm 26 verse 6, and

Psalm 95 Psalm 95 is the 95th psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation". The Book of Psalms starts the third section of the He ...

), as well as two

consecration crosses Consecration crosses are crosses on the interior walls and exterior architecture of a Christian church or cathedral showing where the bishop has anointed the church with chrism or holy water in order to consecrate it. There is often a place for a ...

. There are also elaborate decorative painted designs in the

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ove ...

, around the north and south windows, and on the east wall, with paintings of saints on either side of the east window.

Brocas Chapel

The Brocas chapel is an aisle added to the church of St James by the architect

around 1800. This chapel was built to house the tomb of Bernard Brocas of Beaurepaire, which had previously been outside, exposed to the weather. The white marble tomb was the work of John Bacon the Elder. Brocas, who died 8 November 1777, was Lord of

Beaurepaire, Hampshire Beaurepaire is a country estate at Sherborne St John in the England, English county of Hampshire. History Beaurepaire was owned by the Brocas family from Aquitaine for approximately 500 years. In the 14th century, Sir John Brocas was Edward I ...

and a magistrate and colonel of the militia. He was a descendant of Bernard Brocas, who was executed in 1400, the son of the MP Bernard Brocas, died 1395, an Anglo-Gascon family of the 13th and 14th centuries.

List of vicars

* William de Martene * Thomas de Bardene (1316) * William de Godefray (1320) * John Muleward (1361) * Sir John Avereye (1372) * Geoffrey Chaunterell (1388) * Sir Hugh Thurnham (1388) * Hugh Plane * Robert Hemgrave (1391) * Robert Chirchehous * Sir William Knavenhurst (1402) * John Colet (1404) * Ralph Jorad (1409) * William Swinton * John Whitgreve (1431) * John Ruston (1433) * Thomas Tuelwebbe (1434) * Walter Cobenore (1437) * Sir Thomas Turnour (1451) * Unnamed vicar (1466) * Sir Thomas Kynge (1474) * Sir Richard Chamberlayn (1498) * Richard Lancaster (1502) * William Patynson, S.T.P. * William Knott, A.M. (1522) * Sir Gregory Bell (1550) * Sir John Warweke (1562) * William ap Robert or Edwardes (1563) * John Richardes (1567) * Christopher Sexten,

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

(1593) * Thomas Sherman, A.M. (1605) * Thomas Lough, B.D. (1643) * John Wakefield, A.M. (1666) * Peter Dalton,

M.A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

(1673) * William Pennington (1712) * Stephen Green,

(1724) * Thomas Shaw (1742) * George Fothergill,

D.D. A Doctor of Divinity (D.D. or DDiv; la, Doctor Divinitatis) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity. In the United Kingdom, it is considered an advanced doctoral degree. At the University of Oxford, doctors of divinity are ra ...

(1751) * George Dixon,

(1761) * William Dowson,

(1787) * George Thompson,

(1800) * Henry Wheatly, A.M. (1823) * Anthony Grayson,

(1824) * William Thompson,

(1843) * William Airey,

(1844) * Charles Eddy,

(1869) * Thomas Hayes Belcher,

(1893) * Herbert Lavallin Puxley,

(1920) * George Robert Macaulay,

(1925) * John Wilfrid Greenstreet,

(1936) * Thomas Boulton Tunstall,

, A.C.A (1956) * Kenneth Harry Houlden (1967) * Roger Stanton Cossins, B.D., A.K.C. (1976) * Robert Charles Toogood A.K.C. (1992) * John Robert Lenton,

(2010)

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bramley, St James' Church Grade I listed churches in Hampshire John Soane buildings