---
title: "St James, Avebury"
description: "Located in Avebury, Wiltshire. Built Late Anglo-Saxon nave c.950–1000; 12th-century aisles; 15th-century tower; chancel restored 1879. Diocese of Salisbury. Grade I. Anglo-Saxon nave with Norman doorway and Perpendicular tower style."
category: "Church"
tags: ["Church","Church of England","Wiltshire","Avebury","Grade I","Anglo-Saxon","R J Withers"]
canonical: "https://thebritishgazette.com/post/st-james-avebury"
pubDate: "2026-09-06T01:13:39.030Z"
dateModified: "2026-09-08T00:33:28.566Z"
location: "Avebury, Wiltshire"
country: "England"
county: "Wiltshire"
town: "Avebury"
address: "Church Walk, Avebury, Wiltshire, SN8 1RG"
postcode: "SN8 1RG"
built: "Late Anglo-Saxon nave c.950–1000; 12th-century aisles; 15th-century tower; chancel restored 1879"
architect: "R J Withers (1879 chancel restoration)"
denomination: "Church of England"
dedications: ["James"]
diocese: "Salisbury"
grade: "I"
style: "Anglo-Saxon nave with Norman doorway and Perpendicular tower"
materials: "Dispersed sarsen and flint with limestone dressings; ashlar west tower; stone slate porch; slate and lead roofs"
website: "https://www.kennet8.org.uk/st-james-avebury/"
openingHours: "Open daily."
parish: "Avebury"
listEntryUrl: "https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1193084"
gridReference: "SU 099 699"
accessNotes: "Accessible toilets in church. Level access to the main areas"
---

# St James, Avebury

St James’s is a Grade I parish church on the High Street at Avebury, Wiltshire, just west of the prehistoric henge, in the Diocese of Salisbury and the Kennet 8 benefice.

## Overview

Historic England lists an Anglican parish church of the tenth century with late-twelfth, thirteenth-, fourteenth- and fifteenth-century work, alterations of 1812, and a chancel restored in 1879 by R. J. Withers. The fabric is dispersed sarsen and flint with limestone dressings and an ashlar west tower. The tall, narrow nave is late Anglo-Saxon: two single-chamfered ground-floor windows rebated for shutters survive at the west end, and three of four original circular clerestory windows remain. Twelfth-century arcades were later raised on tall Tuscan columns in 1812. The south doorway is a fine late-twelfth-century reset inner door with chevron and nailhead. The three-stage Perpendicular west tower has angle buttresses and a south-east stair rising above a crenellated parapet.

Fittings include a twelfth-century barrel font with a bishop holding a crozier between dragons, and a rare complete fifteenth-century rood loft with coloured and gilded panelling over a nineteenth-century screen. Anglo-Saxon sculpture is reset in the porch and in the west wall of the nave. The church stands beside Avebury Manor, within the World Heritage landscape.

## Further Information

- [Historic England list entry 1193084](https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1193084)
- [Kennet 8: St James, Avebury](https://www.kennet8.org.uk/st-james-avebury/)
- [CRSBI: St James, Avebury](https://www.crsbi.ac.uk/view-item?i=11041)