For this church:

Introduction

Location

History

Archaeology

Contacts

Fittings

Glass

Organ

Bells

Clock

Stonework

Monuments

War Memorial

Churchyard

References

Pictures

Plans

Listing Description

List of Incumbents

Parish page

Porchester

St James

Nottingham Archdeaconry

Gedling Deanery

Introduction

Known as The Barn church, St James’ has its roots in farming. The first church, dedicated in 1935 was developed from the buildings which comprised Marshall Hill Farm. The Parsonage had been the farm house built by Earl Manvers in 1798 after clearing some 120 acres of Sherwood Forest. The Church itself had been a sturdy barn of the same period. The vestries were created from the pig sties and cowsheds. The pig troughs are still to be seen in the vicarage garden.

By 1955 it was decided to build a church more suited to the requirements of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners but the Barn was still to be retained. In 1956 a sympathetic extension was completed and the church of St James was granted the status of a Parish Church. Matching red bricks were used, and wood carvings of country trades-people were carved on the pillars which support the barn wall. In 1988 the old vicarage was demolished to make way for a house ‘more suitable for the needs of a modern parish’.

Particular thanks to Helen Briggs for research on this entry
and also to Chris Atkin for photographs