The church building at St James’ is much loved. This is perhaps most obvious when we welcome people: at Christmas, to baptise, to get married and to say goodbye to loved ones. Anglican Parish Churches are sometimes described as ‘memory palaces’ for a community, and one of the obligations for an Anglican Parish Community is to maintain the building as a keeper of those memories and as a witness to the presence of God.

In recent years many have commented on the need to repair the internal decoration of the church and on the inadequacy of the sound system.  As time passes, these items move from being ‘nice to have’ to ‘essential maintenance’, and during 2019 the PCC committed to attend to them.  A budget of £40k for this work was established and a plea for pledges issued to those on the Electoral Roll of the Parish early in 2020 received a very generous response.   Redecoration work has started and will be completed during the summer.