The name or dedication of the church.
This identifies the church type. Most churches are parish churches which means they serve a specific parish or area. Other types such as chapel, daughter and mission are mostly historic designations as many are now also parish churches. Please note that former churches are no longer used for worhsip and may be in private ownership.
A unique identification number given to every church.
The name of the diocese in which the church is located.
The name of the archdeaconry in which the church is located.
This is the legal name of the parish as given by the Church Commissioners.
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There are 3 levels of listing: Grade I, II* & II. The majority of buildings which are of special interest are Grade II. A much smaller number of particularly important buildings are listed as Grade II*. Buildings of exceptional interest (approx 2% of the total number of listed buildings) are Grade I.
Ancient monuments and archaeological remains of national importance are protected by law. Cadw, the Welsh Government’s historic environment service is responsible for compiling a schedule (list) of these ancient monuments, some of which can be found in churches and churchyards. Examples can include churchyard crosses and the archaeological remains of previous churches or buildings on the site.
There are three National Parks in Wales: Snowdonia, Pembrokeshire Coast and Brecon Beacons. These protect 20 percent of the land in Wales, including precious landscapes, habitats, villages and heritage sites.
There are over 500 conservation areas in Wales. They are designated by local planning authorities for their special architectural and historic interest.
The Buildings at Risk register is managed by Cadw (the Welsh Government’s historic environment service) in order to identify the number and type of listed buildings at risk in Wales.
It is often extremely difficult to determine a precise date of construction for a church as many have been extensively altered over time. Church Heritage Cymru therefore shows a date range within which a church is believed to have been constructed. The dates are as follows: Early Medieval (pre 1066), Medieval (post 1066 to 1540), Post Medieval (1540 to 1837), Victorian/Pre WWI (1837 to 1914) and Modern (post 1914).
This is a very brief summary of the church's main features. More detailed nformation can be found in the other fields and pages (tabs) in this database.
Useful information is displayed here for people wishing to visit the church. This may include things like opening hours, catering & toilet facilities, parking, etc.
If the church has its own website the details will be displayed here.
Any further sources of information for the church will be listed here (eg. links to other historic databases).
This is the Ordnance Survey (OS) reference for the location of the church. Some locations will be approximate as this data is continuously being refined and updated.
This is the name of the Local Authoirity within which the church is located.
This describes how the church relates to its immediate and wider environment, sometimes called its setting. It describes how the church contributes to its landscape or townscape and how these things collectively contribute to the character of the area.
St James' Church is set in the Uplands a Victorian suburb of the City of Swansea about 1.5 km west of the city centre along the A4118 main Gower Road (Walter Road here).
This is a description of the ground plan of the church.
If known, the dimensions (measurements) of the church ground plan will be displayed here.
If the footrprint (area) of the church is known, it will be displayed here.
A description of the history and archaeology of the church and its site.
When a new parish with St James' as the parish church was formed in 1985 the church already had a long history. It had been consecrated in June 1867. The town was then still comparatively small, with the ruins of its medieval castle and town defences as a legacy of the past, and with its central parish church at St. Mary's. There were many signs of the industrial activity which was bringing prosperity to the area, and of the cost of that prosperity in terms of poor housing, inadequate sanitation, and widespread poverty. On the western fringe, along the ancient route to Sketty which became Walter Road, there were all the signs of wealth and prosperity.
Two vicars of St Mary's were keenly aware of the social problems of their day; Edward Burnard Squire, who was vicar from 1846 to 1876, and J. Allan Smith, who was vicar from 1885 to 1902. Squire was the pioneer. Concerned about the conditions which he encountered in the town centre he became deeply involved in social and educational work, fostering new National Schools in Oxford Street and the Ragged School, and later the Parochial Schools in the Sandfields. But the parish extended beyond central Swansea. Squire regarded the foundation of a daughter church, St James', as a contribution to the life of the more prosperous people in his parish, and he placed great emphasis on the fact that he would soon be seeking their support for his future plans for the poorer areas of his parish. St James owes him much, and it is fitting that the Parish Centre should have been built as a memorial to him. The church was built in 1863 - 7 by Thomas Nichalson of Hereford
This new daughter church was an important base, and those who worshipped here played an active part in the life of the parish of Swansea. When St Mary's was so severely damaged during the second world war, St James' became the centre of the parish until the old parish church had been rebuilt. Then it reverted to its former position and became, once again, a daughter church. When, in 1985, Bishop Vaughan weighed up the changes which could be achieved in the Uplands, he made St James' an independent parish in its own right.It has now a churchyard with a number of Holm Oaks around the outside.
References
Cadw Listings Notice
Buildings of Wales – Glamorgan 2001
Church Quinquennial Inspection Reports
A description of the exterior of the church and the main features of the churchyard.
St James' church was built in Victorian Gothic style or perhaps the Victorian version of the Decorated style built 1863-67, it has a nave with 2 side aisles, north and south transepts and chancel almost as high as the nave. It is costructed in brown snecked stone, with pale freestone (Bathstone) dressing under a slate roof. There is a south gable porch with angle buttresses and polygonal shafts having flowers in the hollow of the arch and stone benches. There is simple arch entrance doorway into the church. The aisle window have hoodmoulds with head stops. It had orriginally been designed to have a tower and spire to be an imposing building in its suburban neighbourhood but these were never built. The west window has three lights and each aisle has a two light window at each end. There is a four light south transcept window. There is a three light round window with quatrefoil to the east.
Information about any noteable architects, artists, people, or events associated with the church.
Information about any important features and building fabric.
If known, a list of the church's major building material/s will be displayed here.
Any renewable energy systems the church is using will be listed here.
This section gives a general description of the interior of the church. Further details of any important internal fixtures and fittings will be listed below.
A nave with four bays of round shafts, floral capitals with relief roundels of prophet to the spandrels. There is an open braced roof to the nave and chancel. The south transept altar has wooden traceried panels to the altar and reredos. The chancel arch has inner orders of arches on corbelled (floral or angel) shafts with floral capitals.
The nave floor, in the curculation area, has two colour terracotta tiles in a diamond pattern, a carpet runs through nave into chancel, the altar dias has a marble floor finish.
The oak altar is set forward before a finely carved oak reredos with oak altar rails with gate, carved in keeping with the reredos. The oak pulpit is reached up oak stairs. Unsurprisingly there is an oak Eagle lectern. The font is painted stone.
The east and west windows are by Gerald Smith of A K Nicholston, of 1953 - 54, the east window of ' Christ in Glory' using complex iconography diagrammatically presented while the west window is of the late 1950s also by Smith and shows the church as a ship, or rather as a galleon in full sail.
Information about the church's important internal fixtures and fittings.
Information about the church's important moveable items and artworks.
A description of the ecology of the churchyard.
Information about the presence of bats in the church building or churchyard.
Records whether the church has been consecrated.
Records whether there have been burials in the churchyard.
Records whether the churchyard is still being used for burials.
Records whether there are any war graves in the churchyard.
Any important churchyard structures will be listed here.
Signifiance levels are set at high, medium and low.
Significance defines what is special about a church. This could be architectural, archaeological, historical or liturgical. Here, it describes the relationship of the church to its surrounding area and helps place it within its wider landscape context.
Significance defines what is special about a church. This could be architectural, archaeological, historical or liturgical. Here, it describes the significance of the historic building fabric of the church.
Significance defines what is special about a church. This could be architectural, archaeological, historical or liturgical. Here, it describes the historic significance of the interior of the church.
Significance defines what is special about a church. This could be architectural, archaeological, historical or liturgical. Here, it describes the relationship between the church and its community.