St James' Church is in the village of Ince, Cheshire, England. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building.[1] It is an active Anglicanparish church in the diocese of Chester, the archdeaconry of Chester and the deanery of Frodsham. Its benefice is united with that of St Mary, Thornton-le-Moors.[2]
A Norman chapel once stood on this site. The present church was built in the medieval period but only the tower and part of the chancel remain from this date.[3] The chancel is in 14th-century Decorated style and possesses a three-light Decorated window in its east wall.[4] The chancel has a 17th-century oak arch-braced collar roof.[1] The Perpendicular[4] tower by Simon Ripley dates from around 1485–93. The chancel roof, though restored, dates from 1671.[4] The nave, aisle and porch were rebuilt in 1854 in Perpendicular style by Edward Hodkinson, and the tower was raised by two courses.
Architecture[]
Exterior[]
The church is built in red sandstone with a grey slate roof.[1] Its plan consists of a west tower, a five-bay nave with a north aisle, and a chancel with a lower roof.[5]
Interior[]
Interior
The deeply carved altar table is Jacobean, and the altar rails date from the late 17th century. Also in the chancel is a sanctuary chair of 1634 and a two-tier candelabrum dated 1724.[3] The royal coat of arms of Queen Anne are in the nave.[4] The communion rail with twisted balusters dates from the late 17th century. In the chancel are two stained glass windows by Kempe.
[6] There is a ring of three bells, two of which are dated 1622 and 1636. The parish registers begin in 1687 and the churchwardens' accounts in 1749.[3]
Altar
Sanctuary chair
External features[]
The sandstone 19th-century churchyard wall is a Grade II listed building.[7] In the churchyard, north west of the tower, is the war grave of a Royal Navy sailor of World War II.[8]
^ abcRichards, Raymond (1947), Old Cheshire Churches, London: Batsford, pp. 190–194, OCLC719918
^ abcdMorant, Roland W. (1989), Cheshire Churches, Birkenhead: Countyvise, p. 143, ISBN0-907768-18-0
^Salter, Mark (1995), The Old Parish Churches of Cheshire, Malvern: Folly Publications, pp. 42–43, ISBN1-871731-23-2
^Hartwell, Clare; Hyde, Matthew; Hubbard, Edward; Pevsner, Nikolaus (2011) [1971], Cheshire, The Buildings of England, New Haven and London: Yale University Press, p. 414, ISBN978-0-300-17043-6