---
title: "St James, Arnside"
description: "Located in Arnside, Cumbria. Built 1864–66; extended 1884, 1905 and 1912–14. Diocese of Carlisle. Gothic Revival style."
category: "Church"
tags: ["Church","Church of England","Cumbria","Arnside","Gothic Revival","Miles Thompson","Austin and Paley"]
canonical: "https://thebritishgazette.com/post/st-james-arnside"
pubDate: "2026-09-06T01:12:37.376Z"
dateModified: "2026-09-08T18:58:12.887Z"
location: "Arnside, Cumbria"
country: "England"
county: "Cumbria"
town: "Arnside"
address: "Church Hill, Arnside, Cumbria, LA5 0DW"
postcode: "LA5 0DW"
built: "1864–66; extended 1884, 1905 and 1912–14"
architect: "Miles Thompson; later Stephen Shaw, R Morton Rigg, Austin and Paley"
denomination: "Church of England"
dedications: ["James"]
diocese: "Carlisle"
style: "Gothic Revival"
openingHours: "The church is open dawn till dusk every day."
parish: "St James, Arnside"
gridReference: "SD 458 787"
accessNotes: "Non-accessible toilets in church. Level access to the main areas"
---

# St James, Arnside

St James is the Church of England parish church of Arnside, Cumbria, on Church Hill above Morecambe Bay, in the Diocese of Carlisle and the Kent Estuary Mission Community.

## Overview

Wikipedia and the Old Cumbria Gazetteer record that before 1866 Arnside people travelled to Beetham to worship. A new chapel of ease, designed by Miles Thompson of Kendal, was built in 1864–66 as a small nave and chancel and became a parish church in its own right in 1876. Stephen Shaw extended the west end in 1884; R. Morton Rigg added a north aisle in 1905; and the Lancaster firm Austin and Paley added a south aisle and vestry in 1912–14.

The resulting plan is a nave with clerestory, a lean-to north aisle, a south aisle under its own roof with a pair of dormers, and a chancel. The north arcade stands on octagonal piers and the south arcade on taller round piers. Stained glass in the east window of 1880 is by F. Burrow of Milnthorpe. The church is not on the National Heritage List for England; the four listed buildings in Arnside parish do not include St James.

## Further Information

- [Wikipedia: St James' Church, Arnside](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_James'_Church,_Arnside)
- [Old Cumbria Gazetteer: St James, Arnside](https://www.lakesguides.co.uk/html/lgaz/lk10852.htm)
- [Architects of Greater Manchester: St James' Church, Arnside](https://manchestervictorianarchitects.org.uk/buildings/st-james-church-arnside)