St James's Church, East Cowes is the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

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 ...

East Cowes East Cowes is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the north of the Isle of Wight, on the east bank of the River Medina, next to its west bank neighbour Cowes. It has a population of 8,428 according to the United Kingdom Census ...

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight (Help:IPA/English, /waɪt/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''WYTE'') is an island off the south coast of England which, together with its surrounding uninhabited islets and Skerry, skerries, is also a ceremonial county. T ...

History

The church was built in 1831 by the architect John Nash.The Buildings of England, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.

Nikolaus Pevsner Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, ''The Buildings of England'' (195 ...

The land was given by Thomas Chamberlayne Esq., of

Cranbury Park Cranbury Park is a stately home and country estate situated in the parish of Hursley, Winchester, England. It was formerly the home to Sir Isaac Newton and later to the Chamberlayne family, whose descendants continue to own and occupy the hous ...

. On 6 September 1831, the twelve-year-old Princess Victoria laid the foundation stone of the new church. Construction of the church was completed by 1833 and on 12 July 1833, Princess Victoria and her mother the

Duchess of Kent Duchess of Kent is the principal Courtesy titles in the United Kingdom, courtesy title used by the wife of the Duke of Kent. There have been four titles referring to Kent since the 18th century. The current duchess is Katharine, Duchess of Kent ...

attended the consecration service by

Charles Richard Sumner Charles Richard Sumner (22 November 179015 August 1874) was a Church of England bishop. Life Charles Sumner was a brother of John Bird Sumner, Archbishop of Canterbury. Their father was Robert Sumner, and their mother was Hannah Bird, a first c ...

the

Bishop of Winchester The Bishop of Winchester is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Winchester in the Church of England. The bishop's seat (''cathedra'') is at Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire. The Bishop of Winchester has always held ''ex officio'' the offic ...

. The total cost of the build was £3,000. Between 1864 and 1868, the church was greatly enlarged and altered by the architect Thomas Hellyer. In 1870, the chancel was added, as well as a private chapel. In June 2009, a new project started allowing the congregation of the church to meet before services to have breakfast together. Yearly, the church also holds a Jigsaw Puzzle Festival, which is during August and lasts for one week.

Burials

* John Nash (1752–1835), architect

Parish status

The church is in a United Benefice with St. Mildred's Church, Whippingham.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cowes, St. James Church of England church buildings on the Isle of Wight Grade II listed churches on the Isle of Wight East Cowes