St James is a Church of England parish church in Poole on the south coast of

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, in the ceremonial county of

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of , ...

. The church is located in the historic quarter of the town, near

Poole Harbour Poole Harbour is a large natural harbour in Dorset, southern England, with the town of Poole on its shores. The harbour is a drowned valley (ria) formed at the end of the last ice age and is the estuary of several rivers, the largest being t ...

. It is the parish church for the St James sub district of Poole. Today the church is still in use by the local population and has a large playgroup. Lucy Holt is the current minister of the church.

History

The church is named for Saint James, Poole having once been medieval departure point for those embarking for mainland Europe to proceed on the Camino de Santiago. The church has long been associated with the local maritime and fishing trades. It is known locally as 'the fishermen's church'. The church has an unusual

weather vane A wind vane, weather vane, or weathercock is an instrument used for showing the direction of the wind. It is typically used as an architectural ornament to the highest point of a building. The word ''vane'' comes from the Old English word , m ...

fashioned in the shape of a

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of ...

. A church has stood on this spot for around 800 years but at the start of the 19th century, with the wealth of the Newfoundland trade, local merchants and dignitaries subscribed to rebuilding in the

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

style, which is what we see today. The church is seen as a good example of English Georgian religious architecture.

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

have designated it a Grade II*

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 ...

. It has a small churchyard, predominantly 18th century interments, with a few in the early 1800s. The church used another burial site at Hunger Hill and, after 1855, the new municipal cemetery at Oakdale.

Bell legend

The church has a long tradition of bell ringing. Local lore has it that during

Edward VI Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death in 1553. He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine. Edward was the son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour and the first E ...

's reign, the

Duke of Somerset Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are rank ...

ordered eight bells to be sold in aid of Poole's fortification. Unfortunately the bells were lost at sea during passage to

Holland Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former province on the western coast of the Netherlands. From the 10th to the 16th c ...

.Poole (St. James), Dorset

Gallery

Image:St_James_Poole_1.JPG, Interior Image:St_James_Poole_2.JPG, Interior

References

External links

Official site
{{Coord, 50.713, N, 1.989, W, display=title Poole, St James Church Churches in Poole Poole, St James Church