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St James's Church,
Clapton Village,
Clapton on the Hill, Gloucestershire.

Cemeteries

This Church has (or had) a graveyard.

Note: any church within an urban environment may have had its graveyard closed after the Burial Act of 1853. Any new church built after that is unlikely to have had a graveyard at all.

Church History

This Place of Worship was founded in the 12th century, and we understand it is still open.

St James's Church is one of the smallest in Gloucestershire. Kelly's Directory of 1923 describes it as "a small, ancient edifice of stone, chiefly in the Early English style, with some debased Perpendicular insertions, consisting of chancel, nave, south porch and a small turret containing one bell". A vestry was added in 1912, and it had sittings for 100 worshippers. The parish registers begin in 1873; prior to that those of Bourton on the Water and Lower Slaughter were used. The living at the time was a chapelry, annexed together with Lower Slaughter, to the rectory of Bourton on the Water, and held since 1901 by the Rev. William Edward White M.A. of Wadham College Oxford, who was also an honorary canon on Gloucester Cathedral, and rural dean of Stow. It is still, technically, a chapelry of Bourton on the Water in the present day, but apparently now, according to the St Lawrence's Church (Bourton on the Water) with St James website it has fewer sittings, and will seat just 45 people comfortably.

The website also records that the church is well known for its 13th century inscription carved onto the northern part of the chancel arch. This is recorded by the British Listed Buildings website as a latin inscription of c.1289 in Lombardic script on the left-hand abacus, which their account translates as 'Whoever shall say three times devoutly a Pater and an Ave on his knees and in person - lo! There is a reward then and there of a thousand days'. They also mention remains of "possibly 17th century painted black letter texts either side of chancel arch", and a Transitional tub font "chamfered at a later date to fit an octagonal shaft".

Denomination

Now or formerly Church of England.

If more than one congregation has worshipped here, or its congregation has united with others, in most cases this will record its original dedication.

Maps

This Church is located at OS grid reference SP1628517966. You can see this on various mapping systems. Note all links open in a new window:

• St James's Church, Clapton on the Hill shown on a Google Map.
• Places of Worship in Clapton on the Hill shown on a Google Map.
• Streetmap.co.uk (arrow on map shows the Place of Worship's location) (verified 2018-10-15)
• Bing (Ordnance Survey option) (verified 2018-10-13)
• Bing Maps ('Bird's Eye' View) (verified 2018-10-15)
• Ordnance Survey "getamap" (NB some of the 'Change Map' options may require a subscription) (verified 2018-10-15)
• OpenStreetMap (Maps © OpenStreetMap contributors, CC-BY-SA) (verified 2018-10-15)
• A Vision of Britain Through Time - useful for Boundary Changes (verified 2018-10-15)
• www.magic.gov.uk (Modern Maps with various overlays) (verified 2018-10-15)

Resources

I have found many websites of use whilst compiling the information for this database. Here are some which deserve mention as being of special interest for Clapton on the Hill, and perhaps to Local History and Places of Worship as a whole.

• Information provided on the St Lawrence's Church (Bourton on the Water) with St James website. (verified 2019-01-24)
• Learn more about Buildings of special or historical interest on the British Listed Buildings (null) (verified 2018-09-19)

The above links were selected and reviewed at the time I prepared the information, but please be aware their content may vary, or disappear entirely. These factors are outside my control.