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CHER Number:	07114
Type of record:	Building
Name:	Saint James' Church, Stretham

Summary - not yet available

Grid Reference:	TL 511 746
Parish:	Stretham, East Cambridgeshire, Cambridgeshire

Monument Type(s):

CHURCH (12th century to Modern - 1101 AD to 2050 AD)
GRAVESTONE (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)

Associated Finds:

BRASS (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
FIGURINE (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)

Protected Status:

Listed Building (II*) 1127032: Church of St James

Full description

1. Medieval bronze statuette found on the surface, in the churchyard during extensive restorations. The statuette is of a female figure, probably Mary. Probably the dexter arm of a processional cross or crucifix; would have had a similar figure of Saint John on the sinister side. Date beginning or middle of C15.
2. Medieval gravestone, Example of Purbeck school; probably C13; is of the trefoil type.
3. Parish Church of St James. The W tower dates from the C14. It has angle buttresses and is in its lower parts ashlar-faced. Decorated W window and bell openings. Stone spire with two tiers of dormer windows. N arcade is C14 whilst the S arcade is C19. Chancel is C14. The S view of the church from outside is entirely Victorian. Brass: 1497, Dame Joan, widow of John Swan - in widow's dress -nearly 4ft tall.
6. The church consists of chancel, N. vestry, S. organ chamber, clerestoried nave, transepts, aisles, S. porch, and W. tower and spire. The material is mainly rag and Barnack stone, and the roofs are tield. The fabric, in so far as it is ancient, is mainly of early-C14 date, except the eat wall of the chancel which appears to belong to the C12. IN 1876 the church underwent a severe restoration. The chancel was practically rebuilt and the transepts, S. aisle and clerestory were added. The work involved the destruction of the S. porch and the provision of new roofs; the chancel was curtailed and the western portion thrown into the nave. The transepts are entirely modern apart from the C14 doorway in the E. wall of the N. transept. The font is modern.
7. Architectural fragments are visible in rockery beds on both sides of the path from the E. gate of the churchyard to the S door of the church. Probably placed there during extensive refurbishment of the church in the C19. Most are limestone, some dating from C14.

9-10. (TL 512746) One fragment of an Anglo-Saxon grave cover is now built into inner wall of South Porch of St James Church, Stretham.

<1> Pigot, H., 1875, Arch J 32, p. 107 (Article in serial). SCB1031.

<2> Butler, L.A.S., 1957, Medieval Gravestones of Cambridgeshire, Huntingdonshire and the Soke of Peterborough. PCAS 50: 89-100 (Article in serial). SCB10205.

<3> Pevsner, N., 1954, The Buildings of England: Cambridgeshire, 1970, 462 (Bibliographic reference). SCB17744.

<4> Le Strange, R., 1972, A Complete Descriptive Guide to British Monumental Brasses (Bibliographic reference). SCB11968.

<5> McLelland, A., 1991, A Guide to St James' Church, Stretham (Bibliographic reference). SCB1856.

<6> Pugh, R.B. (ed), 1953, The Victoria County History of Cambridgeshire and the Isle of Ely. Volume 4, 155-157 (Bibliographic reference). SCB14655.

<7> Appendix 3. Notes on the Architectural Fragmnets in the Rockery of St James' Church, Stretham (Unpublished report). SCB20374.

<8> Appendix 3. Notes on the Architectural Fragmnets in the Rockery of St James' Church, Stretham (Unpublished report). SCB20374.

<9> Fowler, G., OS Corr 6in (Map). SCB9378.

<10> Bromwich, J., 1953, OS Corr 25in (Map). SCB9253.

<11> 1978, OS 1:2500 map (Map). SCB8820.

Sources and further reading