St James' Church is in the village of

Audlem Audlem is a village and civil parish located in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire in North West England, approximately south of Nantwich. Close to the border with the neighbouring county of Shropshire, t ...

in south Cheshire, England. It 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 ...

. The church dates from the late 13th century with additions in the 19th century. 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

diocese of Chester The Diocese of Chester is a Church of England diocese in the Province of York covering the pre-1974 county of Cheshire and therefore including the Wirral and parts of Stockport, Trafford and Tameside. History Ancient diocese Before the si ...

, the archdeaconry of Macclesfield and the deanery of

Nantwich Nantwich ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. It has among the highest concentrations of listed buildings in England, with notably good examples of Tudor and Georgian architecture. ...

. Its benefice is combined with those of St John, Doddington, and St Chad, Wybunbury. The church stands in an elevated position in the centre of the village.

History

The church is not 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 ...

and it is thought that the first building on the site was given by Thomas de Aldelim to the priory of St Thomas at Stafford in the reign of Edward I. After the dissolution of the monasteries the

advowson Advowson () or patronage is the right in English law of a patron (avowee) to present to the diocesan bishop (or in some cases the ordinary if not the same person) a nominee for appointment to a vacant ecclesiastical benefice or church living ...

was granted to the Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield. The church dates from the late 13th and early 14th centuries. In 1855–56 there were additions and alterations by Lynam and Rickman.

Architecture

Exterior

The church stands on a small mound in the centre of the village. It is built of red

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 ...

ashlar with a lead roof. Its plan consists of a six- bay

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 an embattled clerestory, a tower at the northwest corner of the nave, a north

aisle An aisle is, in general, a space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, certain types of buildings, such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, par ...

with a chapel at its east end, a narrower south aisle, a

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 ...

and a south porch. The church is approached through the south porch by 26 steps arranged in a semicircle. The south wall contains a former priest's doorway which has been walled up and its steps removed. The tower has on its west face a two-light window, above which is a pair of windows and above these is a circular clock. The belfry windows have two lights and are louvred. The top is embattled with pinnacles at the four corners.

Interior

The nave roof is

camber beam In building, a camber beam is a piece of timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction fra ...

ed. The holy table and pulpit are Jacobean in style. A two-tier chandelier was donated to the church in 1755. Also in the church is a 13th-century chest. Two windows containing stained glass are by

William Wailes William Wailes (1808–1881) was the proprietor of one of England's largest and most prolific stained glass workshops. Life and career Wailes was born and grew up in Newcastle on Tyne, England's centre of domestic glass and bottle manufacturing. ...

. One of these was donated by Edward Barker in memory of his wife and was installed in 1859. In the south aisle ( Nativity scenes from 1882) and in the north aisle (dated 1893) are windows by Kempe. Four memorial boards are present which are believed to have been painted by members of the

Randle Holme Randle Holme was a name shared by members of four successive generations of a family who lived in Chester, Cheshire, England from the late years of the 16th century to the early years of the 18th century. They were all herald painters and gen ...

family of Chester. 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 six bells, all cast in 1736 by Abel Rudhall of Gloucester, which were rehung in 1891. The

parish register A parish register in an ecclesiastical parish is a handwritten volume, normally kept in the parish church in which certain details of religious ceremonies marking major events such as baptisms (together with the dates and names of the parents), ma ...

s begin in 1557. The two- manual organ was made by John Squire of London and restored in 1973 by Hawkins and Son of

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands County, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east of Wolverhampton and from Lichfield. Walsall is th ...

. In the 1990s it was moved from a side chapel to the west end of the north aisle.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Audlem, St James' Church Church of England church buildings in Cheshire Grade I listed churches in Cheshire English Gothic architecture in Cheshire Gothic Revival architecture in Cheshire Diocese of Chester

History

Architecture

Exterior

Interior

See also

References