Welcome to another instalment in my #churchproject that I’m sharing across multiple Hive communities and my own blog. Today’s post features two churches for the price of one and they are both called St James.
They’re about 7 minutes apart by car.
Barkham
The earliest records of there being a church here date back to the 1300s but the current church was built in 1860-1862, designed by the architect John Clacy.
More details of the history of Barkham, can be found at https://berksfhs.org/barkham/
Around the year of 1348 the population of Barkham was decimated by the Black Death. Could this grave date back as far as this? It was impossible to tell.
Finchampstead
St. James' Church in Finchampstead, Berkshire, has a rich history, dating back to the 12th century when Sir Alard Banestra, with help from monks and local people, initiated the construction of the original church. The church's foundation is Norman, with significant alterations made in the late 16th century, and a brick tower added in 1720.
Key Historical Points:
- 12th Century Origins: The church's foundation is believed to have been laid in the 1120s, with the original building possibly completed by 1134.
- Norman Influence: The church was built during a period of intensive Norman building, taking on its present basic form around 1150.
- Late Saxon Font: The baptismal font within the church is a late Saxon feature.
- 16th Century Alterations: The church saw some changes in the late 16th century.
- 1720 Brick Tower: A sturdy brick tower was added in 1720.
- Grade I Listed Building: St. James' Church is a Grade I listed building, signifying its architectural and historic importance.
- Notable Burials: The churchyard contains the graves of several notable individuals, including Victoria Cross recipients Lt Col. Alfred Stowell Jones and General Sir John Watson, as well as the four granddaughters of General William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army.
- Manor House and Church Centre: The Manor House was gifted to the church by a parishioner, Lady Liddell, and provides meeting rooms and the Parish Office. A Parish Hall was added in the 1990s for larger social gatherings.
The Church Project
There are some 16,000 churches spread across the UK and all have some interesting stories to tell. Whilst I’ve never been a church goer at any point in my lifetime, apart from a short period of time when Tina and I would take Alice (my step-daughter) to our local church where we lived at the time, as she wanted to learn more about Christianity; I think we all got more than we bargained for, then moved house and haven’t been back since. Religion perhaps isn’t for us but churches are, they’re for everyone. I think this is because for the two of us, we’ve both grown up with an immense gratitude towards churches, we got dragged around them as kids by parents who had some fascination with these ancient places. Ok I used to hate the national trust, garden centres, churches, scones and jazz. Now I love those things and churches too. Then of course Tina and I got married in a Methodist church, North Camp, Farnborough where Alice went to her youth club as a young girl some years before.
This project is very much a husband and wife thing, it gets us out, we explore and discover places we wouldn’t have known existed otherwise.