Church of St James, Liverpool facts for kids

Quick facts for kids St James' Church
St James' Church from the southeast
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OS grid reference	SJ 353 891
Location	St James Place, Toxteth, Liverpool
Country	England
Denomination	Anglican
Website	St James in the City
Architecture
Functional status	Active
Heritage designation	Grade II*
Designated	19 June 1985
Architect(s)	Cuthbert Bisbrown William Culshaw H. Havelock Sutton
Architectural type	Church
Style	Georgian
Groundbreaking	1774
Completed	1775
Specifications
Materials	Brick with stone dressings
Administration
Diocese	Liverpool
Province	York

St James' Church is an Anglican church in St James Place, Toxteth, Liverpool, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building. Having been declared redundant in 1974, it returned to active use in 2010 as St James in the City.

History

The church was built in 1774–75 by Cuthbert Bisbrown, who probably also designed it. Originally a chapel of ease for the parish of Walton, the church acquired its own parish in 1844. Its congregation, which reflected the area's diverse population of affluent merchants and industrial labourers, included black settlers from West Africa, the Caribbean and America. A new timber roof was added in 1846 by William Culshaw. The chancel, designed by H. Havelock Sutton, was built in 1900. On 1 October 1974 the church was declared redundant, and on 9 June 1976 was vested in the Churches Conservation Trust.

In 2009, the church was returned to the Liverpool Diocese, and was re-opened in 2010 as the Church of St James in the City. As the building was in a semi-derelict condition, a marquee was erected inside the church to allow the immediate resumption of worship while repair work was ongoing. An urgent roof replacement was carried out between 2011–2012, along with other structural repairs, but the parochial council was unable to secure funding for further work. The marquee was incrementally expanded to meet the needs of the growing congregation, but the building remained unsuitable for full use, due to minor safety issues and a lack of running water. In 2018, however, a kitchen, toilets and an office were installed, and by 2021 the renovation project was complete, with the addition of several new rooms and a mezzanine floor.

Architecture

Exterior

St James is constructed in red brick with stone dressings. Its plan consists of a five-bay nave, a chancel, and a west tower. Along the sides of the nave are two tiers of round-headed windows. The tower is in four stages with an embattled parapet. Its third stage contains clock faces, and in the top stage are paired louvred bell openings.

Graveyard

There used to be graves and vaults in the churchyard. John Lightbody noted his family vault in 1863 as shown in the photograph.

Interior

The architectural style of the interior is "conventionally Georgian". There are galleries on three sides, carried on slim quatrefoil cast iron columns. The columns are the earliest existing examples in Liverpool of cast iron columns, and are one of the earliest examples of them in England. The timber roof is open, with Norman-style arches. The east window is stained glass designed by Henry Holiday, dated 1881. There are monuments dating from the late-18th and the early-19th centuries. Many of the monuments relate to the slave trade.

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  Restored roof, 2017

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  Memorial plaque to Henry Percy Clarke of the King's Liverpool Regiment, killed in World War I

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  Towards the east window

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  Grade II listed walls, gates and railings

See also

• Grade II* listed buildings in Merseyside
• List of extant works by Culshaw and Sumners