St James, Stanstead Abbotts

The Old Church of St James is a Grade I redundant church about a mile south-east of Stanstead Abbotts, Hertfordshire, in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust. It stands on a hill overlooking the Lea marshes.

Overview

Historic England calls it of outstanding interest as a medieval church with an unrestored eighteenth-century interior. Wikipedia dates the nave to the twelfth century and the chancel to the thirteenth; the tower and porch are fifteenth-century, and the north-east chapel was added in 1577. In 1881 St Andrew’s was built nearer the village and superseded St James’. The fabric is flint rubble with stone dressings; some Roman tiles are built into the walls. The two-stage embattled west tower has a polygonal south-east stair turret carried above the parapet and a small lead-covered spire.

The whitewashed interior has box pews, a sixteenth-century two-decker pulpit, a thirteenth-century circular font on a fifteenth-century pedestal, a thirteenth-century double piscina, royal arms and commandment boards, and a monument of 1587 to Sir Edward Baesh with kneeling effigies. Pevsner wrote that few Hertfordshire churches so well preserve an eighteenth-century village character. Three bells date from 1605, 1617 and 1790.

Further Information

• Historic England list entry 1078730
• Friends of St James’ Old Church
• Wikipedia: St James' Church, Stanstead Abbotts