---
title: "St James the Great, Cradley"
description: "Located in Cradley, Herefordshire. Built C12 origins; tower c.1200, heightened C15; restored 1868-69. Diocese of Hereford. Grade II*. Transitional tower; Gothic Revival nave and chancel style."
category: "Church"
tags: ["Church","Church of England","Herefordshire","Cradley","Grade II*","Gothic Revival","Transitional","George Gilbert Scott","A E Perkins"]
canonical: "https://thebritishgazette.com/post/st-james-great-cradley"
pubDate: "2026-09-06T01:32:13.254Z"
dateModified: "2026-09-09T12:31:10.220Z"
location: "Cradley, Herefordshire"
country: "England"
county: "Herefordshire"
town: "Cradley"
address: "Rectory Lane, Cradley, Herefordshire, WR13 5LH"
postcode: "WR13 5LH"
built: "C12 origins; tower c.1200, heightened C15; restored 1868-69"
architect: "Sir George Gilbert Scott (1868); A E Perkins (1869 aisle)"
denomination: "Church of England"
dedications: ["James the Great"]
diocese: "Hereford"
grade: "II*"
style: "Transitional tower; Gothic Revival nave and chancel"
materials: "Local red sandstone rubble with freestone dressings; tile roof"
website: "http://www.cradleychurch.org.uk/"
openingHours: "Covid19 : During the current restrictions relating to Covid19 it is open daily from 9am to 5pm. [Normally open : Open daily between 8am to 5pm during the winter and 8am to 7pm during the summer.]"
parish: "Cradley"
listEntryUrl: "https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1082298"
gridReference: "SO 736 471"
accessNotes: "Accessible toilets nearby. Level access throughout"
---

# St James the Great, Cradley

St James the Great is a Grade II* parish church on Rectory Lane, Cradley, Herefordshire, in the Diocese of Hereford.

## Overview

Historic England records a parish church with a tower of about 1200, heightened in the fifteenth century, partly restored in 1868 by Sir George Gilbert Scott and further restored, with a north aisle, in 1869 by A. E. Perkins. The fabric is local red sandstone rubble with freestone dressings and a tile roof. The plan is a nave with a lower, narrower chancel, west tower, south porch and north aisle with vestry. The three-stage tower is Transitional in its lower stages, with later diagonal west buttresses. A south doorway has a cyclopean arch; a fragment of masonry with crockets, probably Anglo-Saxon, is set into the north wall. The west window is nineteenth-century Perpendicular. Clock faces on the north and south sides were installed as a 1914-18 war memorial.

The Corpus of Romanesque Sculpture notes that the church was largely rebuilt in 1868-70. The south doorway and tower arch are twelfth-century; the north aisle arcade by Perkins is of six bays. Scott rebuilt the chancel in 1868; the south porch dates from 1893. The manor was held by the Bishop of Hereford in 1086, when a priest was recorded.

## Further Information

- [Historic England list entry 1082298](https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1082298)
- [British Listed Buildings: Church of St James, Cradley](https://britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/101082298-church-of-st-james-cradley-and-storridge)
- [CRSBI: St James the Great, Cradley](https://www.crsbi.ac.uk/view-item?i=7836)