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St James

St James

South Leigh

Oxfordshire

Late C12 chancel rebuilt 1871-2 by E.W. Christian

Architectural Features

Late C15 nave and north aisle, probably by William Orchard

late C15 west tower

Late C15 five-light east window with panel tracery

South chancel wall has early 16 three-light round-arched window with vine-carved label mould

chamfered Norman doorway has hogbacked lintel with carved tympanum depicting Maltese cross bordered by arcs and coves

Chamfered Norman window with hood-mould to north

Late C15 north chapel has 3-light window with panel tracery and head stops to label-mould and 3-light cinquefoil-headed north window

3-stage west tower with string courses: casement-moulded west door with foliate spandrels including Green Man

carved heads and gargoyles carved on coved frieze beneath crenellated parapet

All late C15 hood-moulds over windows have fine head stops

Interior: late C12 pillar piscina in front of aumbry

Late C15 archway to north chapel has slender shafts running into casement moulding, and moulded capitals

statue corbel with carved herald above squint to east. similar C15 archway from north aisle to chapel, with C15 cinquefoiled and ogee-headed chapel screen: mid C19 chancel screen has reset C15 traceried open panels and rood by Gibbs and Moore c.1873

plain polygonal pulpit with octagonal stem, presented 1712, stands next to parish chest dated 1780

Late C15 octagonal font on simple panelled base

C15 plank door to west tower

other fittings and roofs are late C19: 3 late C15 head corbels in north aisle

Memorials: late C17 and early C18 ledger stones in north chapel

Brass to William Secoll (died 1557) in nave

Important group of late C15 wall paintings: restored in 1872 by Burlison and Grylls

Stained glass: east window by O'Connor, 1871

East window of north chapel has fragments of C15 glass, including quarries and border pieces, heads of Christ and the Virgin, Adam Digging and hanging shields of arms

National Monuments Record