St James' Church stands in an elevated position in the village of Cardington,

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to ...

, England. It is an active Anglican

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

in the deanery of Condover, the archdeaconry of Ludlow, and the

diocese of Hereford The Diocese of Hereford is a Church of England diocese based in Hereford, covering Herefordshire, southern Shropshire and a few parishes within Worcestershire in England, and a few parishes within Powys and Monmouthshire in Wales. The cathedral i ...

. The church is recorded in the

National Heritage List for England The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, a ...

as a designated 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 presence of a church on the site is recorded in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manus ...

. The village, including its church, was given in 1167 to the Knights Templar, and remained in their possession until 1308. They were responsible for starting the building of the present church in the later part of the 12th century. During the following century 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. Ov ...

was rebuilt and extended, and the tower was added. Further additions and alterations were made during the following three centuries, followed by the porch in 1639. Restoration was carried out between 1852 and 1868, which included removal of the gallery. As part of the restoration Henry Curzon replaced 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 ...

chancel arch with a much larger arch.

Architecture

Exterior

The body of the church is constructed in

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...

rubble Rubble is broken stone, of irregular size, shape and texture; undressed especially as a filling-in. Rubble naturally found in the soil is known also as 'brash' (compare cornbrash)."Rubble" def. 2., "Brash n. 2. def. 1. ''Oxford English Dictionar ...

with ashlar dressings and has tiled roofs. The tower is rendered in cement and limewashed, and the porch is timber. The plan consists of a

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 ...

with a south porch, a chancel, and a west tower. The tower is in three stages with a

battlement A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (i.e., a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at interv ...

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). ...

, and surmounted by a pyramidal cap with a

weathervane 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 ...

. In the bottom stage is a lancet window on the west side. The middle stage contains paired lancets under arches, that on the south side being blocked by a clock face. The bell openings are louvred in pairs under arches. The nave contains Norman windows and doorways, some of which are blocked. The south doorway contains a door dated 1648. In the chancel are lancet windows and two-light windows containing Y-

tracery Tracery is an architectural device by which windows (or screens, panels, and vaults) are divided into sections of various proportions by stone ''bars'' or ''ribs'' of moulding. Most commonly, it refers to the stonework elements that support the ...

. The east window consists of three stepped lancets under one arch.

Interior

In the chancel is a 13th-century double

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 Ca ...

, and a square

aumbry An ambry (or ''almery'', ''aumbry''; from the medieval form ''almarium'', cf. Lat. ''armārium'', "a place for keeping tools"; cf. O. Fr. ''aumoire'' and mod. armoire) is a recessed cabinet in the wall of a Christian church for storing sacred vesse ...

. The reredos stretches the full width of the church, and contains

encaustic tile Encaustic tiles are ceramic tiles in which the pattern or figure on the surface is not a product of the glaze but of different colors of clay. They are usually of two colours but a tile may be composed of as many as six. The pattern appears inla ...

s depicting the apostles. The pulpit is in Jacobean style, and contains crude carvings of mermen. The stone font dates from 1868. The stained glass in the east window dating from 1914, a memorial to Violet Christie (died 1913) and her widower Captain Stephen Christy (killed in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

1914), is by

Powells Powells or Powell's may refer to: Places * Powell Islands (Powells), Raa Atoll, Maldives Cities, towns, communities * Powells Corners, Ontario, Canada United States * Powells Crossroads, Tennessee * Powells Point, North Carolina * Powellton, ...

, and in the nave is a window with stained glass of 1955 designed by Edward Payne. The oldest monument is that of Chief Justice William Leighton who died in 1607. The two- manual pipe organ was built in about 1985 by George Sixsmith, using "much second-hand pipework". There is a

ring Ring may refer to: * Ring (jewellery), a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry * To make a sound with a bell, and the sound made by a bell :(hence) to initiate a telephone connection Arts, entertainment and media Film and ...

of eight bells. The oldest of these was cast in 1626 by William and Thomas Clibury, and the next oldest by Abel Rudhall in 1752. Two bells were cast in 1887 by James Barwell, and the other four by John Taylor and Company, two in 1990 and two in 2005.

External features

In the churchyard are three structures which have been designated as Grade II listed buildings. To the south of the church is a sandstone sundial dating from the middle of the 18th century. It stands on two circular stone steps, and consists of a baluster on a square base and has a moulded cap on which there is a copper dial and gnomon. Nearby is a pedestal tomb dated 1831 to the memory of Richard Butler. The third item consists of a group of five chest tombs dating from the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Not listed is the parish war memorial, a white marble cross unveiled in 1922 within the churchyard, which lists 14 men who died in

and one in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cardington, St James' Church Grade I listed churches in Shropshire Church of England church buildings in Shropshire English churches with Norman architecture English Gothic architecture in Shropshire Diocese of Hereford