Church of St James, Kinnersley

The Church of St James dates from the 12th, 13th and 14th centuries.{{NHLE|num=1157630|desc=Church of St James|grade=I|access-date=20 February 2022}} It was restored in 1868 by Thomas Nicholson.{{sfn|Brooks|Pevsner|2012|pp=408-409}} From 1873, interior decoration was designed by George Frederick Bodley and carried out by the Reverend Frederick Andrews. In the previous year, Bodley had married Minna Reavely;{{efn|At the time of their marriage, Bodley was 45 while Minna was 21. Her lively personality contributed to a contented partnership; Ninian Comper and Charles Robert Ashbee, both of whom trained in Bodley's office, recorded their impressions of their master's wife. Ashbee described her as "a lively and amusing lady", while Comper thought her looks similar to those of Ellen Terry.{{sfn|Hall|2014|p=163}}}} the Reavely family were the owners of Kinnersley Castle, immediately adjacent to the church.{{sfn|Hall|2014|pp=162-163}} Bodley was buried in the churchyard at St James', following his death in 1907.{{sfn|Hall|2014|p=417}} The church remains an active parish church in the Diocese of Hereford.{{Cite web|url=https://www.achurchnearyou.com/church/10588/service-and-events/events-all/|title=Kinnersley: St James|publisher=A Church Near You|website=www.achurchnearyou.com|access-date=20 February 2022}} The building suffered deterioration in the 21st century; the roof has now been repaired but the ingress of water caused damp which has damaged the interior decoration.{{Cite web|url=https://historicengland.org.uk/advice/heritage-at-risk/search-register/list-entry/24362|title=Church of St James, Kinnersley - Herefordshire|publisher=Historic England|website=historicengland.org.uk|access-date=20 February 2022}} The church is currently on the Heritage at Risk Register.{{Cite web|url=https://facultyonline.churchofengland.org/%27https://facultyonline.churchofengland.org/church-heritage-record-kinnersley-st-james-618140|title=Kinnersley: St James|publisher=Church of England|access-date=20 February 2022}}

The design of the church is unusual. Its "most impressive" element is the, almost detached, tower, constructed in the 14th century.{{sfn|Brooks|Pevsner|2012|pp=408-409}} The body of the church is simple, a chancel dating from c.1300, with a north aisle and an arcade.{{sfn|Brooks|Pevsner|2012|pp=408-409}} The interior has waggon roofs, with "rich" decoration designed by Bodley and executed by Andrews. It includes much multi-coloured stenciling. Alan Brooks, in the 2012 revised Herefordshire volume of the Buildings of England series, describes the decoration as "particularly fine".{{sfn|Brooks|Pevsner|2012|pp=408-409}} St James is a Grade I listed building. The church contains some notable monuments, including one of the mid-17th century to Francis Smalman and his wife Susan, which Pevsner attributes to Samuel Baldwin.{{sfn|Brooks|Pevsner|2012|pp=408-409}}

The war memorial in the churchyard is designed in the form of an obelisk and commemorates the men of the village who died in both the First and the Second World Wars.{{Cite web|url=https://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/33201|title=War Memorial of St. James' Kinnersley|publisher=Imperial War Museums|access-date=20 February 2022}} It is a Grade II listed structure.{{NHLE|num=1459950|desc=Kinnersley War Memorial|grade=II|access-date=16 August 2021}} Bodley's grave, which is also listed at Grade II, is close to that of his collaborator on the interior decoration of the church, the Rev. Frederick Andrews.{{NHLE|num=1349928|desc=Bodley Monument about 50 yards W of the South Porch of the Church of St James|grade=II|access-date=16 August 2021}}

St James, Kinnersley, tower.jpg|"The most impressive feature, the sheer NW tower"

St. James' church (Kinnersley) (geograph 7045360).jpg|The church interior

St James Kinnersley, stencilwork by G F Bodley.JPG|Decorative stencilwork designed by Bodley and worked by Rev. Frederick Andrews

Monument in Kinnersley church - geograph.org.uk - 325944.jpg|Monument to Dame Anne Morgan

Monument to Francis Smallman (Kinnersley) (geograph 7045600).jpg|Smalman Monument

St James, Kinnersley.JPG|The church in its churchyard

Grave of G F Bodley, Kinnersley.JPG|Bodley's grave

St. James' church (War memorial - Kinnersley) (geograph 7045165).jpg|The Grade II listed war memorial

• [https://facultyonline.churchofengland.org/church-heritage-record-kinnersley-st-james-618140#Home Church of England Heritage Record for St James]

{{notes}}

{{reflist}}

• {{Cite book

|last1 = Brooks|first1 = Alan

|last2 = Pevsner|first2 = Nikolaus

|authorlink2 = Nikolaus Pevsner

|series=The Buildings of England

|title=Herefordshire

|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/759174126

|year=2012

|location=New Haven, US and London

|publisher=Yale University Press

|isbn=978-0-300-12575-7

|oclc = 759174126

}}

• {{Cite book

| last=Hall

| first=Michael

| title=George Frederick Bodley and the later Gothic Revival in Britain and America

| url = https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/983761471

| year=2014

| publisher=Yale University Press

| location=New Haven, US and London

| isbn=978-0-300-20802-3

| oclc=983761471

}}

{{Commons category|St James, Kinnersley}}

Kinnersley

Category:Diocese of Hereford

Category:Grade I listed churches in Herefordshire