St James' Church is an

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

church in Eve Hill, in

Dudley Dudley ( , ) is a market town in the West Midlands, England, southeast of Wolverhampton and northwest of Birmingham. Historically part of Worcestershire, the town is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley. In the ...

, West Midlands, England, and in the Diocese of Worcester. It was built in 1840, and it is

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 ...

History

Dudley grew in the early 19th century, so that the existing churches, of St Edmund and St Thomas, were insufficient for the population. St James was built as a sister church to St John's Church in the

Kates Hill Kates Hill, or Kate's Hill, is a residential area in Dudley, West Midlands, England. History Kates Hill was the scene of chaos in 1648 when parliamentarians used it as their base in the Civil War against King Charles I. As a result, many ro ...

area of Dudley; both were designed in Early English style by William Bourne and were built from 1838 to 1840. They were dedicated by the Bishop of Worcester

Robert Carr Leonard Robert Carr, Baron Carr of Hadley, (11 November 1916 – 17 February 2012) was a British Conservative Party politician who served as Home Secretary from 1972 to 1974. He served as a Member of Parliament (MP) for 26 years, and later s ...

in July 1840, this church being dedicated, like

Dudley Priory Dudley Priory is a dissolved priory in Dudley, West Midlands (formerly Worcestershire), England. The ruins of the priory are located within Priory Park, alongside the Priory Estate, and is both a scheduled monument and Grade I listed. The r ...

, to

St James Saint James or St. James may refer to: People Saints *James, brother of Jesus (died 62 or 69), also known as James the Just *James the Great (died 44), Apostle, also known as James, son of Zebedee, or Saint James the Greater *James, son of Alphaeu ...

. The building was funded by private subscriptions, donations from the Worcester Society for erecting churches, and from the

Church Commissioners The Church Commissioners is a body which administers the property assets of the Church of England. It was established in 1948 and combined the assets of Queen Anne's Bounty, a fund dating from 1704 for the relief of poor clergy, and of the Eccle ...

. It originally seated about 1000 people, the number being later reduced."Dudley in the past: Churches and Religion"
''historywebsite.co.uk''. Retrieved 25 March 2024.
Dudley Team Ministry. Retrieved 28 March 2024. Both churches were originally chapels of ease to the Church of St Thomas. The Parish of St James was created in 1844. Restoration and improvements were carried out in 1869: the chancel 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' ...

were rebuilt, galleries were added, and an organ chamber and vestry were added.

Description

There is 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 north and south aisles, galleries above the aisles, and a

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 ...

. The west tower has tall lancet-shaped bell-openings in pairs on each side of the upper stage. The arcades, of seven bays, to the aisles have thin columns with foliage

capitals Capital and its variations may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital ** List of national capitals * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Econom ...

. There is an ornate wrought-iron

rood screen The rood screen (also choir screen, chancel screen, or jubé) is a common feature in late medieval church architecture. It is typically an ornate partition between the chancel and nave, of more or less open tracery constructed of wood, stone, o ...

. The pulpit, given to the church in 1869, is of

Caen stone Caen stone () is a light creamy-yellow Jurassic limestone quarried in north-western France near the city of Caen. The limestone is a fine grained oolitic limestone formed in shallow water lagoons in the Bathonian Age about 167 million years ...

and depicts saints and biblical figures. The font was given to the church in 1869 by the vicar of Dudley, the Rev James Caulfield Browne. The stained-glass east window, of three lights, was given to the church by the widow of John Roberts, a surgeon who died in 1850.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dudley, Saint James Grade II listed churches in the West Midlands (county) Church of England church buildings in the West Midlands (county) Commissioners' church buildings Buildings and structures in Dudley