St James Church, Kilkhampton

The church, dedicated to St James the Great, dates to the 12th century, with a Romanesque inner south doorway, surviving from an earlier structure. The present building was mostly rebuilt in the late 15th or early 16th century in the Perpendicular style, including the nave, aisles, roofs, west tower, and vestry. A south porch dated 1567 was constructed for John Grenville, and the east end was rebuilt in 1860. The architect was Sir George Gilbert Scott. The church was designated a Grade I listed building in 1961. ==Architecture==

Structure and fabric The church is built of slatestone ashlar with granite dressings and slate roofs. The three-stage west tower is tall and battlemented, with set-back buttresses, moulded string courses, pinnacles, and Perpendicular windows and belfry openings. The aisles contain mostly uncusped Perpendicular windows, some restored in the 19th century, while the deeply recessed east window dates from 1860. The south porch bears the inscription Porta cell 1567 and features carved armorial decoration associated with the Grenville family. Interior The interior has tall seven-bay Perpendicular arcades and wagon roofs with carved ribs and bosses, the chancel roof is set slightly lower and decorated with carved angels. A rood-stair turret survives, and the church preserves an extensive series of 16th-century benches with carved ends depicting religious symbols, heraldry, Renaissance ornament, and other motifs. ==Churchyard==

The surrounding churchyard contains several late 18th and early 19th-century slate headstones bearing inscribed verses. ==References==