St James' Church, Longton
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The church of St James-the-Less is in Uttoxeter Road,
Longton, Staffordshire Longton is one of the six towns which Federation of Stoke-on-Trent, amalgamated to form the county borough of Stoke-on-Trent in 1910, along with Hanley, Staffordshire, Hanley, Tunstall, Staffordshire, Tunstall, Fenton, Staffordshire, Fenton, Bu ...
, Stoke-on-Trent, England.


History

St James-the-Less is a
Commissioners' church A Commissioners' church, also known as a Waterloo church and Million Act church, is an Anglicanism, Anglican church in England or Wales built with money voted by Parliament of the United Kingdom, Parliament as a result of the (58 Geo. 3. ...
which was built in 1833-4. It cost £10,000. With a capacity of 2000, it was intended to provide for the rapidly growing population of Longton. Other Commissioners' churches were built in the Staffordshire Potteries around the same time, for example, St Mark's,
Shelton Shelton may refer to: Places United Kingdom *Shelton, North Bedfordshire, in the parish of Dean and Shelton, Bedfordshire * Lower Shelton, in the parish of Marston Moretaine, Bedfordshire * Upper Shelton, in the parish of Marston Moretaine, Bedf ...
, which is slightly larger. Not long after the completion of St James', one writer suggested that its size was perhaps optimistic given the strength of Nonconformist denominations in the area. However, it is still an active
parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), 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 com ...
.


Architecture

It is one of several Commissioners' churches designed by James Trubshaw. The church was built from Hollington
sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...
with a
west West is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some Romance langu ...
tower, six-bay nave and
clerestory A clerestory ( ; , also clearstory, clearstorey, or overstorey; from Old French ''cler estor'') is a high section of wall that contains windows above eye-level. Its purpose is to admit light, fresh air, or both. Historically, a ''clerestory' ...
, and a short chancel with polygonal
apse In architecture, an apse (: apses; from Latin , 'arch, vault'; from Ancient Greek , , 'arch'; sometimes written apsis; : apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical Vault (architecture), vault or semi-dome, also known as an ' ...
.


Conservation

The church is a
Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...
building. It is one of a number of buildings in Stoke-on-Trent which were listed in the 1990s after a survey of the city. Another example is the church of the Holy Evangelists in
Normacot Normacot is an area of Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. Notable buildings include the Church of the Holy Evangelists by Giles Gilbert Scott. Normacot railway station on the Crewe–Derby line The Crewe–Derby line is a railway li ...
.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Longton, Saint James' Church Churches in Stoke-on-Trent Church of England church buildings in Staffordshire Commissioners' church buildings Gothic Revival architecture in Staffordshire Grade II listed churches in Staffordshire