St James the Less
St James the Less, Pockthorpe, Norwich
View of the church bathed in bright sunlight. There is a 3-stage tower at the near end.
View from the southwest
LocationNorwich, Norfolk
CountryUnited Kingdom
History
DedicationSaint James the Less
(officially Saints James the Less and James the Great)
Architecture
Functional statusPuppet theatre
Heritage designationGrade I listed (1954)
Architectural typePerpendicular

St James the Less, Pockthorpe (also once known as St James, Cowgate or St. James at Barr-gates) is a redundant church located in the centre of Norwich, Norfolk. The current church may have replaced an earlier 11th- or 12th-century building. The church was restored in 1885. It was placed in the care of the Norwich Historic Churches Trust in 1973, and became a shelter for the homeless before becoming the home of the Norwich Puppet Theatre, which opened in 1980.

The church’s architectural style is Perpendicular Gothic. It was built using flint, freestone, and brick. The nave is separated by piers that assist in supporting the brick-topped tower, which, being built within the church and not at the end of the nave, causes the west end to be partitioned.

Many of St James’s original interior fixtures and fittings, including its medieval baptismal font, a set of 15th-century rood screen panels, and glass roundels fitted when the church was re-glazed, are now at nearby St Mary Magdalene, Norwich, which in 1972 became the church for the parish after St James was closed as a place of worship.

History

Medieval

St James the Less possibly replaced an earlier building[1]—archaeologists have found a clay boundary wall, possible built in the 11th or 12th centuries, under the foundations of the present building.[2] As with most of the medieval churches of Norwich, little of the building dating from the middle medieval period or earlier has survived.[2]

map of 14th century Norwich
Map of Norwich (c. 1300) by Samuel Woodward (1847). St James is located to the northeast.

The church, which was also previously known as St James, Cowgate, was first recorded in 1180.[2] It is probably the church mentioned in the Domesday Book as "the church of Letha".[3] The church is more correctly called St James the Great & St James the Less, as it was originally dedicated to both saints.[4] Archaeological evidence suggests that it was founded at a time when the River Wensum was wider (or more marshy) than at present. According to the 18th-century English antiquary Francis Blomefield, the church was once known as St. James at Barr-gates,[5] and the ancient parish of St James was called Pockthorpe ("little Thorpe"), as it was created from part of the earlier parish of Thorpe. In 1106, the manor at Thorpe was granted to Herbert de Losinga, Bishop of Norwich, who probably also founded (and had authority over) the church. The church was once near to an Anglo-Saxon (or Anglo-Scandinavian) defensive boundary ditch that became part of the bishop’s liberty.[6] According to Blomefield:[7]

It was a well endowed rectory, having all the great and small tithes belonging to it, till about 1201, when it was appropriated by John de Grey Bishop of Norwich, to the prior and convent there, who by that means, got all the glebes and tithes into their hands, on condition they found a secular chaplain to serve the church, and paid him for so doing, and repaired the chancel at their cost.

In 1368, the church was valued at £1 6s 8d, by 1535 the level had more than doubled. In the late 15th century the present church encroached on Cowgate, a street that was originally 3 metres (9.8 ft) to the east of its present position. An anchoress's cell was to the south of the churchyard was recorded in 1422.[2]

Post-medieval

During the English Reformation, the parish of St James absorbed the parish of St Catherine, in which was a chapel dedicated at one time to William of Norwich, a local boy who had been murdered and buried on Mousehold Heath in 1137.[8] The enlarged parish included a portion of the heath, as well as the Norwich suburb of Pockthorpe.[9]

19th century

A plan of the church by the architect Joseph Stannard (1841)

On 25 March 1841, while Bell Cook was vicar of St Paul and St James with Pockthorpe, the Norwich Diocesan Association for Building and Enlarging Churches voted to donate £100 (equivalent to £9,674.04 in 2021) "in aid of a subscription for repairing and re-pewing the churches of St Paul and St James the Less with Pockthorpe... which churches ... [had] fallen into a state of deplorable diilapidation". Being aware of a repairs estimate of £610, (equivalent to £59,011.66 in 2021) and of the poverty of the local congregations, an appeal for additional subscriptions was made to various interested clergy and gentry.[10][11] The subscriptions were received and disposed of by Rev. Cook.[11] On 9 October 1842, St James was re-opened for services, following the repairs. At the first service, Rev. Cook read the prayers, and the Bishop of Norwich delivered the sermon to a "densely crowded" congregation.[12]

The building was thoroughly and substantially restored under the direction of Mr Joseph Stannard junr, presenting a singular neatness of appearance. 165 additional sittings [had] been obtained by a rearrangement of the pews and an extension of the gallery, all entirely new. The cost of the whole [was] upwards of £600 (raised by grants and subscription]. The Lord Bishop presented a handsome altar cloth, with the appropriate initials embroidered by Miss Stanley".[12][note 1]

The church was altered and restored in the middle of the 19th century, and in 1885.[2][13]

With the growth of Norwich during the 19th century, Pockthorpe, where most of the parish lived, became notorious for the acute poverty and poor housing conditions of the population.[14] In 1842, Pockthorpe's only street, Barrack Street, was described in G.K. Blyth's Norwich Guide as having houses that were "mean" and "occupied by the poorer part of the citizens".[15] At this time, St James and a neighbouring parish, St Paul, shared a curate, who performed services at each church on alternate Sundays.[9] An 1851 report to the General Board of Health noted that wastewater from the stables of the barracks in the parish flowed along a ditch under houses in the area, and that a lack of running water caused the refuse to become stagnant.[14]

20th century - present

Norwich Puppet Theatre's auditorium in 2010

It took until the 1930s for the area's slums, previously considered to have been the city’s worst, had mostly been demolished; St James’s Church and a part of Norwich's city wall are nearly all that remains in the area from before the Second World War.[16]

The church is a deconsecrated former Anglican church, having closed in 1972.[17] In 1973, the building was placed in the care of the Norwich Historic Churches Trust.[17] From 1972 to 1976, the building was repurposed as the Night Shelter for the homeless.[17][18] It is located within the modern parish of St Mary Magdalene Church, Norwich.[19] St James, which is a Grade I listed building,[20] is on the Heritage at Risk Register.[21]

St James formerly stood within a churchyard, now lost to modern development.[21] The building is currently occupied by the Norwich Puppet Theatre, a nationally unique venue dedicated to puppetry.[22] The church was converted for its new use between January and March 1979,[1] during when an archaeological watching brief was carried out.[2] The Manpower Services Commission provided some of the workers used to convert the church.[23] The work done involved the conversion of the nave into an auditorium using old cinema seats, and the chancel was made into a performance area. The theatre opened in 1980.[1] In 1980, an extension was built to accommodate storage and rehearsal space.[18] The theatre can accommodate an audience of 185.[1]

Architecture

James Sillett, St James Church, SE (1828), Norfolk Museums Collections

The present church’s architectural style is Perpendicular Gothic throughout.[24] The nave, chancel and south aisle wall are of knapped flint, freestone, and brick. The nave has a three bays. The south aisle runs in parallel with both the nave and chancel. A fourth bay at the west end of the nave is separated by two piers that assist in supporting the brick-topped tower.[21] The tower has three stages. It was built within the church and not at the end of the nave, so causing the west end to be partitioned.[1] The top part of the tower was constructed in 1743; in Blomefield's time it had stone emblems of the four Evangelists at each corner.[25]

At an unknown date, but probably during the 14th/15th century, a porch was built.[26]

During the late 15th century the west tower-bay and the north wall was rebuilt to allow the staircase for the rood loft to be added. A wall painting on the north nave wall possibly dates from the 16th century. A new aisle was constructed and the chancel wall was rebuilt in the 16th century.[1][27]

During the 18th century a new south porch was constructed in the angle between the west end of the nave and the south aisle.[26] The porch once had pinnacles in the form of seated figures,[24] but only one pinnacle remains.[1] Blomefield (1805) states that the tower was restored in 1743.[5]

The original stained glass windows date from the 15th century.[24] Apart from those on the east side, they are Perpendicular. The east window has tracery dating to the Decorated period.[21] The windows were re-glazed in 1954 and 1960,[4] when roundels were incorporated from the collection of the Norwich glazier Dennis King. Several are now at St Mary Magdalene, Norwich, including a 16th-century Flemish roundel depicting the parable of the rich man and Lazarus.[28]

Original furnishings and fixtures

By the time of its closure, the church still had one of the three original bells, which was manufactured in 1625.[5][29][30] The interior features once included a baptismal font, and a rood screen with painted panels that each featured a saint.[24] The screen is recorded as being "beautifully painted" in 1479.[5] According to a 1911 description of St. James's, the rood-screen was dismantled in 1883. The panels were by 1911 “in private possession, with figures of Sts. Oswald, Sitha, Walstan, Blaise, Blida, Helen, Jean of Valois (dated 1515), Jude, Martin, Simon, Agnes, etc.".[13] The screen was restored in 1946. The panels were acquired from Norwich Market by the philanthropist, Jeremiah Colman. After purchasing them —reputedly for a shilling each—Colman returned them to the church. A panel of Saint Oswald once existed, but was lost.[31]

The carved octagonal font, which depicts the four Evangelists, the Apostles, and eight female saints, and is decorated with leaves and branches on the underside,[13][24] bears a close resemblance to the one at All Saints' Church, Norwich.[13][note 2] The painted panels and the font were transferred to St Mary Magdalene in 1946.[33]

Writing in the 18th century, Blomefield described a Lady chapel in the church, as well as a number of inscriptions on monumental brasses and tombstones. He copied memorials in the church, including brasses for Johanna Rysyng, Elizabeth Calthorp, and "Walteri Ftyer et Margarete Urori". A memorial in the chapel, read: "Pray for the Sowle of Nicholas Parker, on whose Sowle Jesus have Mercy Amen."[5] In 1842, when the church was undergoing an extensive restoration, plans were approved for a gallery to be constructed at the west end.[26]

painting of the font at St James, Pockthorpe
Interior of St. James's Church, Norfolk, (Henry Ninham, undated), Norfolk Museums Collections
Photograph of the font at St Mary Magdalene, Norwich
The original St James font, now in St Mary Magdalene, Norwich
Panel painting at St Mary Magdalene, Norwich
Detail of a rood screen panel depicting St Walstan, now at St Mary Magdalene
photo of a roundel
A roundel of the rich man and Lazarus, now installed at St Mary Magdalene.

Medieval cope

A surviving cope from St James dates from 1480, according to David Cranage, a former Dean of Norwich. The cope is now in the keeping of the Norfolk Museums Service. In 1954, it was repaired by experts at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. The garment, which is made of silk and velvet, and is embroidered, was once considered to be the oldest such garment to be in use in England.[31][34] The cope was displayed during in The Art of Faith exhibition at the Norwich Castle Museum and Art Gallery in 2020.[34]

The cope is adorned with double-headed eagles, flowers, and fleur-de-lys. The Assumption of Mary and two seraphs once formed the centrepiece, but these were removed following the Reformation – a dark area on the velvet reveals where these once were. The cope was later disassembled before being used as a table carpet. It was repaired at the end of the 19th century.[35]

Incumbents

The earliest known priest of St James was Sir Thomas Catlin (appointed in 1462). Other rectors, curates or vicars include Nicholas Gilman (1604–1626), John Barnham (1626–1662), William Herne (1735–1776), James Newton (1776–1811), Bell Cook (1826 –1843),[36] Alfred Davies (1873–1896),[37] Herbert Pitts (1929–1950),[38] and Malcolm Menin (1962–1973).[36]

20th century vicars of St James
NameYear of appointment[36]Comments
Thomas Stone1896Kelly's Directory (1904) states that "St Mary Magdalene's, a chapel of ease to St. James' Pockthorpe, was built 1902–1903 at a cost of about £3,500 on a site granted by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, who also contributed £500 towards the cost of the building".[39]
Charles Edward Osborne Griffith1904[36][40]–
Herbert Benjamin John Armstrong1916[36][41]–
Gerald Wilfred Fardell Howard1922[36][42]–
Herbert Pitts1929Also curate-in-charge for St Martin at Palace, Norwich, from 1944. Pitts was already a graduate and a trained priest when he arrived in England from Australia.[43]
John Harold Ferley1950Also curate-in-charge for St Martin at Palace, Norwich (1950–1952).[44]
Sidney Long1953Also curate-in-charge for St Martin at Palace, Norwich (1953–1962).[45]
Malcolm James Menin1962Also curate-in-charge for St Martin at Palace, Norwich (1962–1974);[46] he became the vicar of St Mary Magdalene in 1972, after the church for the parish of St James, Pockthorpe was transferred there in that year. He was appointed Bishop of Knaresborough in 1986.[47][48]

Notes

  1. ↑ The architect of the 1841–1842 church repairs was Joseph Stannard junior of Norwich (1785–1850)
  2. ↑ The All Saints font is now in St Julian's Church, Norwich.[32]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Norwich Puppet Theatre". Heritage Gateway. Retrieved 10 January 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Atkin 1982, p. 31.
  3. ↑ "St James' Church (Puppet Theatre), Norwich". Norfolk Heritage Explorer. Retrieved 10 January 2024.
  4. 1 2 Long 1961, p. 3.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Blomefield 1805, pp. 423–425.
  6. ↑ "St James Pockthorpe". The Medieval Churches of Norwich. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
  7. ↑ Blomefield 1805, p. 423.
  8. ↑ Blyth 1842, pp. 119–120.
  9. 1 2 Blyth 1842, p. 125.
  10. ↑ UK Retail Price Index inflation figures are based on data from Clark, Gregory (2017). "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
  11. 1 2 "At a meeting of the members". Norfolk Chronicle. 27 March 1841. p. 2 col.4. Retrieved 16 January 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  12. 1 2 "On Sunday afternoon last". Norwich Mercury. 15 October 1842. p. 3 col.3. Retrieved 16 January 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  13. 1 2 3 4 Cox 1911, p. 178.
  14. 1 2 Holmes 2015, p. 8.
  15. ↑ Blyth 1842, p. 211.
  16. ↑ Holmes 2015, pp. v, 122–125.
  17. 1 2 3 Cooper 2014, p. 82.
  18. 1 2 "St James Pockthorpe". Norwich Historic Churches Trust. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  19. ↑ "Maps of parishes/benefices". Supporting churches. Diocese of Norwich. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  20. ↑ Historic England. "Former Church of St James (1372521)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  21. 1 2 3 4 "Church Heritage Record id19328 (Norwich: St James Pockthorpe)". Archbishops' Council. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
  22. ↑ "About Us". Norwich Puppet Theatre. 2020. Archived from the original on 16 December 2023. Retrieved 10 January 2024.
  23. ↑ Knights, Emma (11 November 2010). "Celebrating the history of Norwich Puppet Theatre". Eastern Daily Press. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
  24. 1 2 3 4 5 Pevsner 1962, p. 243.
  25. ↑ Blomefield 1805, p. 424.
  26. 1 2 3 Atkin 1982, p. 34.
  27. ↑ Atkin 1982, pp. 31, 34.
  28. ↑ Long 1961, pp. 8, 9.
  29. ↑ Long 1961, p. 13.
  30. ↑ "Norwich, Norfolk, S James, Pockthorpe". Dove’s Guide for Church Bell Ringers. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
  31. 1 2 Long 1961, p. 10.
  32. ↑ Pevsner & Wilson 2002, p. 241.
  33. ↑ Ladick 2021, pp. 75–76.
  34. 1 2 "Salon 242". Society of Antiquaries of London. 14 February 2020. Retrieved 16 January 2024.
  35. ↑ Barton, Allan (8 October 2018). "Late Medieval English Vestments". Liturgical Arts Journal. Retrieved 16 January 2024.
  36. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Long 1961, p. 5.
  37. ↑ Crockford's Clerical Directory. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. 1898. p. 342. Retrieved 16 January 2024 – via Ancestry.
  38. ↑ Crockford's Clerical Directory. London: Crockford's. 1932. p. 1037.
  39. ↑ "Kelly's Directory of Norfolk, 1904". University of Leicester. p. 289. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
  40. ↑ Crockford's Clerical Directory. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. 1939. p. 539. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
  41. ↑ Crockford's Clerical Directory. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. 1947. p. 32. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
  42. ↑ Crockford's Clerical Directory. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. 1947. p. 646. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
  43. ↑ Crockford's Clerical Directory. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. 1950. p. 1028. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
  44. ↑ Crockford's Clerical Directory. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. 1962. p. 391. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
  45. ↑ Crockford's Clerical Directory. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. 1968. p. 760. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
  46. ↑ Crockford's Clerical Directory. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. 1968. p. 682. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
  47. ↑ "Crown Office". London Gazette. No. 50729. 26 November 1986. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
  48. ↑ Crockford's Clerical Directory. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. 2023. p. 522.

Sources

Further reading

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