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Saint James' Church is a
church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...
on the island of
Saint Helena Saint Helena () is a British overseas territory located in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is a remote volcanic tropical island west of the coast of south-western Africa, and east of Rio de Janeiro in South America. It is one of three constitu ...
and is part of the
Diocese of St Helena The Diocese of Saint Helena is an Anglican diocese within the Anglican Church of Southern Africa. It covers the islands of Saint Helena and Ascension in the Atlantic Ocean and was created in 1859. St Paul's Cathedral is on Saint Helena. Histor ...
. It is situated in the capital Jamestown and is the oldest Anglican Church in the southern hemisphere; the present building was put up in 1774.


History

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three Ki ...
granted a new charter to the
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...
East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...
in 1657, which gave the company the right to fortify and colonize any of its establishments. Because of the strategic importance of Saint Helena as a fortress and staging post on the way home from India, the Company claimed the island on 5 May 1659. The building of the fort was commenced immediately and a little town sprang up in the valley with the chapel and was subsequently named Jamestown, after
James, Duke of York James VII and II (14 October 1633 16 September 1701) was King of England and King of Ireland as James II, and King of Scotland as James VII from the death of his elder brother, Charles II, on 6 February 1685. He was deposed in the Glorious Re ...
. The valley, now generally known as James Valley, was called either Saint James Valley or Chapel Valley, after the chapel which was a prominent building as viewed from the bay. In 1671, the East India Company sent the first of a long sequence of
Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...
chaplains. The early, modest little church was replaced by a slightly bigger one in 1674, but was only later named Saint James' church. By 1774 the first parish church in Jamestown showed signs of decay, and so finally a new building was erected. Saint James' is the oldest surviving Anglican church south of the
Equator The equator is a circle of latitude, about in circumference, that divides Earth into the Northern and Southern hemispheres. It is an imaginary line located at 0 degrees latitude, halfway between the North and South poles. The term can als ...
. Alterations were made in 1843 and 1869.Land Planning and Development Control Ordinance
Appendix 3: Listed Buildings The church once possessed a spire, but this had to be taken down in 1980 for safety reasons.Flickr
Photo showing the former spire It was restored in 2020. It is designated as a Grade I listed building, and is one of many listed buildings (a designation for buildings of historic or architectural merit) in Jamestown. It is situated in the historic centre of Jamestown, close to the shore and to The Castle.


Parish

The
parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...
of St James (one of three parishes on the island) consists of Saint James' Church and three daughter churches: * Saint John's, Upper Jamestown * Saint Mary's, the Briars * Saint Michael's, Rupert's Valley


Gallery

File:Saint James Church in Jamestown Saint Helena.jpg, View from NE in 2020, after restoration of the steeple File:Interior of Saint James' Church Jamestown.jpg, View looking E of the altar and lancet windows File:Jacob's Ladder near St. James Cathedral in Jamestown Saint Helena.jpg, Jacob's ladder visible behind the church File:Saint James Church in Jamestown in 2020.jpg, View from N in 2020 File:Detail of the bell tower and steeple of Saint James Church in Jamestown.jpg, Detail of steeple


See also

*
Saint Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London and is a Grad ...
- the cathedral church of Saint Helena, built in 1851, which replaced another early church on the island * Saint Matthew, Hutt's Gate


References


External links


Diocese of Saint Helena
Parish of St James

Drawing from 1683 showing the church in James Valley {{coord, -15.9253, -5.7181, type:landmark_region:SH, display=title Church buildings in Saint Helena Churches completed in 1774 18th-century Anglican church buildings Parishes of Saint Helena Grade I listed buildings in Saint Helena