The parish church of St James,

Birdham Birdham is a village and civil parish in the Chichester District of West Sussex, England. It is located on the Manhood Peninsula, south-west of the city of Chichester. The parish church is dedicated to St James, although the dedication was to ...

is situated on the

Manhood Peninsula The Manhood Peninsula is in the southwest of West Sussex in England. It has the English Channel to its south and Chichester to the north. It is bordered to its west by Chichester Harbour and to its east by Pagham Harbour, its southern headland ...

in Sussex. The area is a suburban extension of the city of

Chichester Chichester ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in the Chichester District, Chichester district of West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher ...

, popular as a place to live and visit from its nearness to the city,

Chichester Harbour Chichester Harbour is a large natural harbour in West Sussex and Hampshire. It is situated to the south-west of the city of Chichester and to the north of the Solent. The harbour and surrounding land has been designated as an Area of Outstand ...

and marina. The church was heavily restored in the nineteenth century, the then existing

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

being entirely replaced and 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 ...

windows renewed. The sixteenth-century tower remains. The church has a grade 1 listing.

History

The earliest parts of the church, in the nave, can be definitely dated to the fourteenth century, but some parts may be older. A tower was added in the sixteenth century. The chancel is nineteenth century. The church was

restored ''Restored'' is the fourth studio album by American contemporary Christian musician Jeremy Camp. It was released on November 16, 2004, by BEC Recordings. Track listing Standard release Enhanced edition Deluxe gold edition Standard Aus ...

in 1863 and 1882–83 by G.M. Hills. Architectural historian

Ian Nairn Ian Douglas Nairn (24 August 1930 – 14 August 1983) was a British architectural critic who coined the word "Subtopia" to indicate drab suburbs that look identical through unimaginative town-planning. He published two strongly personalised cr ...

says that the impression left by the restoration is "terrifyingly harsh".

Architecture

The church consists of a nave, with a south porch, chancel and tower. The nave is in three bays, marked on the outside by buttresses. The inner stonework of the windows dates from the Victorian restoration. The window in the second bay on the north has some ancient exterior stonework remaining. The squat tower is rendered and has diagonal buttresses. It was built around 1545, but an earlier tower may have been either planned or actually built. The evidence for this is in the sixteenth century

Perpendicular In geometry, two geometric objects are perpendicular if they intersect at right angles, i.e. at an angle of 90 degrees or π/2 radians. The condition of perpendicularity may be represented graphically using the '' perpendicular symbol'', � ...

style tower arch which sits on apparently fourteenth century shafts which are too small for it, leading to an awkward appearance. The chancel dates entirely from the restoration of 1863. It has fourteenth century style windows and a buttress in the middle of the north and

south walls South Walls is a tidal island or peninsula at the southern end of Hoy in Orkney, Scotland. It is connected to the main body of Hoy, and to the district of North Walls, by a thin neck of land known as the Ayre. Its largest settlement is Longho ...

. The chancel arch is fourteenth century.

Fittings and bells

The plain octagonal font was installed in 1883. The banner, with scenes from the lives of Sussex saints, was designed by Yvonne Hudson and worked by the ladies of the church.A Short Guide to St James' Birdham – available in the church The modern east window shows the gospel story of the

miraculous catch of fish The miraculous catch of fish, or more traditionally the miraculous draught of fish(es), is either of two events commonly (but not universally) considered to be miracles in the canonical gospels. The miracles are reported as taking place years ap ...

with

Chichester cathedral Chichester Cathedral, formally known as the Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity, is the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Chichester. It is located in Chichester, in West Sussex, England. It was founded as a cathedral in 1075, when the seat of th ...

in the background. It was made by M.C.F. Bell in 1978. There are a fourteenth-century bell, inscribed "IOHANES" and one with the name William Hunneman and the date 1695.

Images

References

Bibliography

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Birdham, Saint James Church Church of England church buildings in West Sussex Grade I listed churches in West Sussex