Description

PARKHAM 5/165 Church of St. James 20.2.58 GV. II * Anglican parish church. C15; restored in 1875. Squared and coursed slatestone with granite ashlar dressings; C15 moulded coping and parapet, with frieze of chequered limestone and slatestone; late C19 slate roof. Plan: chancel and nave, with vestry and chapel to north, continuous south aisle, and west tower. Chancel has hood mould over late C19 Perpendicular-style 3-light window; one-bay side walls have label moulds over C15 one-light windows with cinquefoiled heads and quatrefoil spandrels. Vestry, built 1875, to north of chancel, has chequered frieze to parapet. North chapel: late C19 Perpendicular-style 3-light window to east; hood moulds over two C15 two-light windows with cinquefoiled heads to north, restored in C19; C19 octagonal stack. Two-bay north wall of nave has label moulds over two C15 three-light square-headed windows with cinquefoiled heads, flanking blocked C15 doorway. South aisle: hood mould over late C19 Perpendicular-style 3-light window in east and west gable; 4-bay south front has C15 offset buttresses and label moulds over late C15 three-light square-headed windows with cinquefoiled heads and mouchettes in spandrels; label mould over chamfered basket-arched doorway to east, with fleurons carved in spandrels. C15 south porch, restored in 1875, has offset diagonal buttresses and moulded coping; sundial with gilt lettering, dated 1731, above hood mould over arched casement-moulded doorway, which is mostly late C19. Fine C12 south doorway; round arch of 3 orders, with imbricated ornament, three-quarter roll and chevron carving; at the top of the arch is a humorous carving of a head with bulbous nose, as if peering over the doorway; the imposts are carved with interlacing round arches and have Celtic-style head carvings; carving of ram's head adjoins scalloped west capital and carving of man's head adjoins east capital carved with volutes (as at Buckland Brewer (q.v.)). The jambs flanking the doorway have moulded arrises. Door has late C19 leaf applied to front of C15 framework. Three-stage west tower has full-height diagonal corner buttresses and string courses; to west is a hood over a plain 3-light Perpendicular window with chamfered depressed-arched lights, set above label mould over moulded granite doorway with sunk spandrels to arched head. The door is C19 but includes C15 applied tracery. Two-light louvred belfry windows have chamfered depressed-arched lights. Crenellated parapet has C18 pyramidal crocketed pinnacles. Interior: heavily restored in 1875. C15 four-bay north arcade with moulded stone arches, set on the usual quatrefoil-section piers, and Perpendicular capitals with foliate and floriated carvings on abaci. Similar 6-bay south arcade. Late C19 encaustic-tile pavement in chancel. Arch-braced roofs of 1875 throughout; these have C15 moulded wall plates and corbels. Fittings: late C19 painted texts of Ten Commandments flank east window. Mid C18 communion rail with barley-sugar balusters. Plain choir stalls and pews, eagle lectern and wrought-iron candelabra with brass candle holders probably date from after 1875 restoration. Mid C18 polygonal and panelled pulpit, with barley-sugar balusters to steps and carved frieze, is set on late C19 base. Scalloped C12 font has late C19 ogee-shaped cover and late C19 stone base and plinth, surrounded by reset C15-16 Barnstaple-type tiles. Late C19 bier in north chapel. Monuments: C17 and C18 ledger stone at east end of south aisle and C17 inscription set in floor of choir. Chancel has tablets to Richard Walter, d. 1842, and Rev. William Walter, d. 1843. North chapel: mid C18 monument with angels on broken pediment and Corinthian columns; monument to Thomas Saltren, d. 1753, by Jonathan Richard Veale of Plymouth, has heraldic cartouche set beneath fine black and white marble eared architectural frame flanked by scrolls and wheatear carvings; three mid C18 monumnts to west wall, which consist of urn on pedimented monument to centre flanked by tablets with swagged ornament. North wall of nave has slate tablet in architectural frame to Richard Blinch, d. 1767, slate tablet set in nowy-headed architrave with plain pilasters to Susannah Nichols, d. 1696, scrolled marble tablet to T.J.W. Thomas, d. 1845, and monument to John Fortescue, d. 1710, with painted foliate-carved frame flanked by reversed acanthus brackets. (Buildings of England: North Devon, p. 133; National Monuments Record) )

Listing NGR: SS3890221509

External Links

• Wikidata Q17536713

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Recommended Books

• 
  Yorkshire West Riding: Sheffield and the South (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  London 3: North West: North West v. 3 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990: Updated version
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  England's Post-War Listed Buildings
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  Setting up a Listed Building Heritage Partnership Agreement: Historic England Advice Note 5
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  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides): Written by Charles O'Brien, 2014 Edition, Publisher: Yale University Press [Hardcover]