In September 2014 our church was entered on the Heritage England “At Risk Register” due to the poor state of the exterior of the church. Briefly this included all roofs, rainwater goods and some of the stone mullions on the windows. On 6th November 2022 we received a letter from Giles Proctor – Heritage England Architect- to congratulate us, as we have been removed from the 2023 “At Risk Register” and we are now classed as being in “Good Order”. This is a mammoth feat by everyone connected with the church and as long as our ongoing maintenance is carried out in a timely fashion, should ensure the integrity of the building into the foreseeable future. Our energies will now be focused on the interior of the church – updating the radiators is in the pipeline and in the budget (thanks to funds from our Book Sales) Fund raising will be needed to repair some of the smaller windows, extend the heating where possible and perhaps attempt the restoration of the beautiful paper in the Sanctuary Roof! We now have a new architect, Ian Hayton, and next spring he will carry out a “Quinquennial Inspection” as required by the diocese. This will be a detailed report of the fabric of the church and enable us to prioritise maintenance as per his report. Only 11 Grade 1 listed buildings in Yorkshire were removed from the register. St James Church is hugely important in architectural terms as it is set in a Conservation Village also designed by Butterfield and we are seeing increasing numbers of visitors.
In September 2014 our church was entered on the Heritage England “At Risk Register” due to the poor state of the exterior of the church. Briefly this included all roofs, rainwater goods and some of the stone mullions on the windows. On 6th November 2022 we received a letter from Giles Proctor – Heritage England Architect- to congratulate us, as we have been removed from the 2023 “At Risk Register” and we are now classed as being in “Good Order”. This is a mammoth feat by everyone connected with the church and as long as our ongoing maintenance is carried out in a timely fashion, should ensure the integrity of the building into the foreseeable future. Our energies will now be focused on the interior of the church – updating the radiators is in the pipeline and in the budget (thanks to funds from our Book Sales) Fund raising will be needed to repair some of the smaller windows, extend the heating where possible and perhaps attempt the restoration of the beautiful paper in the Sanctuary Roof! We now have a new architect, Ian Hayton, and next spring he will carry out a “Quinquennial Inspection” as required by the diocese. This will be a detailed report of the fabric of the church and enable us to prioritise maintenance as per his report. Only 11 Grade 1 listed buildings in Yorkshire were removed from the register. St James Church is hugely important in architectural terms as it is set in a Conservation Village also designed by Butterfield and we are seeing increasing numbers of visitors.
