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

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17536713

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Historic Environment Law: Planning, Listed Buildings, Monuments, Conservation Areas and Objects, Supplement 2014
• 
  Gwent/Monmouthshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Wales)
• 
  A Buying and Owning a Listed Building: A Brief Guide
• 
  Lancashire: Liverpool and the South-West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius (Penguin Art & Architecture)
• 
  Specifications for Building Conservation: Volume 1: External Structure: Practical Examples v. 2