St James, Swimbridge
St James, Swimbridge
St James is the Grade I parish church of Swimbridge, Devon, a medieval church with a thirteenth-century tower and fourteenth-century broach spire, in the Diocese of Exeter.
- Location
- Swimbridge, Devon
- Country
- England
- County
- Devon
- City / town
- Swimbridge
- Address
- Swimbridge, Devon, EX32 0PR
- Postcode
- EX32 0PR
- Built
- West tower probably 13th century; broach spire 14th century; remainder rebuilt 15th and 16th centuries; restored 1880
- Denomination
- Church of England
- Dedication
- James
- Diocese
- Exeter
- Parish
- Swimbridge
- Grade
- I
- Style
- Perpendicular
- Materials
- Dressed stone south aisle and porch; stone rubble elsewhere; slate roofs; lead broach spire
- Grid reference
- SS 620 299
- Opening hours
- Open every day for quiet prayer and meditation from approximately 10am until 4pm.
- Access
- Level access to the main areas. Accessible toilets in church
Overview
Historic England dates the unbuttressed west tower to the thirteenth century, with a broach spire added in the fourteenth (medieval roof structure intact; releaded in 1892 by J. Smyth). The remainder was rebuilt in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries and restored in 1880. The plan is west tower, nave, north and south aisles, chancel, north and south chancel chapels, and a north vestry with priest’s chamber above. Materials are dressed stone to the south aisle and porch, rubble elsewhere, and slate roofs.
The interior is known for a carved Gothic rood screen of about 1500 — Pevsner called it one of the most glorious Devon screens — some 44 feet wide with fan vaulting and vine-leaf tracery, restored in 1880, and a Renaissance carved wood font. The building became a parish church in 1866; its first vicar was the Revd John (Jack) Russell (1795–1883). It was listed Grade I on 25 February 1965 (NHLE 1107640).