St James' Church is in the village of

Christleton Christleton is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish on the outskirts of Chester, in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The Shropshire Union Canal (originally Cheste ...

, Cheshire, England. 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 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 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 Chester and the deanery of Chester. It is the only Cheshire church designed by

William Butterfield William Butterfield (7 September 1814 – 23 February 1900) was a Gothic Revival architect and associated with the Oxford Movement (or Tractarian Movement). He is noted for his use of polychromy. Biography William Butterfield was born in Lon ...

History

The name of the village 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 ...

and it is likely that a church was on the site at this time. In 1093 the patronage of the church was given to the monks of St Werburgh's Abbey, Chester. The church was rebuilt in stone around 1490, and the tower built at this time is still present. The church sustained considerable damage during the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

and around 1730 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 ...

and

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 ...

were repaired. However, during a service in 1873 the roof of the nave partly collapsed. Plans for rebuilding the church were prepared by Butterfield, retaining the 15th-century tower, adding

gargoyle In architecture, and specifically Gothic architecture, a gargoyle () is a carved or formed grotesque with a spout designed to convey water from a roof and away from the side of a building, thereby preventing it from running down masonry walls ...

s to each corner and a short spire to the turret. The rebuilding took place between 1874 and 1878.

Architecture

Exterior

The church is built in ashlar red and white

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 ...

with a green slate roof. Its plan consists of a nave and chancel in one range with a clerestory, north and south

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 ...

s, a south porch, side chapels to the chancel, and a west tower. The tower is in two stages with diagonal

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 ( ...

es and a stair turret at the southeast angle. It has a three-light west window. The bell openings have two lights and are louvred. The

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'). ...

s are embattled and have gargoyles. On top of the tower is a shingled pyramidal cap.

Interior

The interior is decorated with red and white sandstone with a chequerboard pattern added in the upper portion. There is no chancel arch, but between the nave and the chancel is a tympanum marking the division. In the chancel is a large

alabaster Alabaster is a mineral or rock that is soft, often used for carving, and is processed for plaster powder. Archaeologists and the stone processing industry use the word differently from geologists. The former use it in a wider sense that include ...

reredos having panels filled with

mosaic A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...

. The chancel is floored with Minton tiles. The west window dated 1877 is by Gibbs and much of the other stained glass is by the firm of Kempe, and is dated between 1884 and 1904. In the north aisle is a window dating from about 1986 by Cliff Boddy, and there is a window celebrating the 2000 millennium in the south transept by Bill Davies. A large painted panel of the royal arms dated 1665 is by

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 ...

III. The font is made from Sicilian

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite. Marble is typically not foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the term ''marble'' refers to metamorphose ...

on a

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

base. The

churchwarden A churchwarden is a lay official in a parish or congregation of the Anglican Communion or Catholic Church, usually working as a part-time volunteer. In the Anglican tradition, holders of these positions are ''ex officio'' members of the parish b ...

s' benches have canopies. The altar table is Jacobean. Also in the church is a carving of a pelican feeding her young with her own blood, and an old village constable's staff. The two- manual organ was built by

George Holdich George Maydwell Holdich (14 August 1816 – 30 July 1896) was a British organist and organ builder based in London. Early life Holdich was born on 14 August 1816, the third son of the Revd. Thomas Holdich (Vicar of St Mary the Virgin's Church, ...

, and rebuilt around 1990 by

Rushworth and Dreaper Rushworth and Dreaper was a firm of organ builders, and later general instrument suppliers associated with Paul McCartney based in Liverpool. The manufacturer was founded in 1828 by William Rushworth, operating until 2002. Upon its liquidation, ...

. 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 cast in 1928 by John Taylor and Company.

External features

In the churchyard is an ashlar red sandstone sundial from the mid-late 18th century, and the headstone of William Huggins and members of his family dated 1884. Both of these are listed at Grade II. Also listed at Grade II is the

lych gate A lychgate, also spelled lichgate, lycugate, lyke-gate or as two separate words lych gate, (from Old English ''lic'', corpse), also ''wych gate'', is a gateway covered with a roof found at the entrance to a traditional English or English-style ch ...

which was designed by Butterfield and is built from ashlar red sandstone and

timber framing Timber framing (german: Holzfachwerk) and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden ...

with a Welsh slate roof and a red tile ridge. The churchyard contains the war graves of six soldiers of

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 ...

, including former Wales international

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

Billy Matthews who is commemorated as 'Shoeing Smith William Mathews, Royal Field Artillery,https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2746923/mathews,-william/ CWGC War Dead and a soldier and a Home Guardsman of

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