Site Record

The church of St James is located on the west corner of Newport Road and Glossop Road, near to Cardiff Royal Infirmary. It was built in the period 1891-4 to designs of E.M.Bruce Vaughan, who lived in the parish, and replaced an earlier iron church. The building shows the influence of Bodley's nearby St German's (NPRN 175).
It is a large church in late thirteenth-century Gothic style, built of pink grey Swelldon stone with bathstone dressings and slate roofs. It comprises a tall north-east porch tower with stone spire, tall clerestorey, apsidal nave with low lean-to aisles, and a north-west porch.
The interior is Bathstone faced. The roof is arch-braced with cusped wind braces, and wall shafts. The five-bay nave has broad arches (two clerestorey windows per bay), alternating round and octagonal shafts, stiff-leaf capitals, and arcade hoodmoulds with rich floral stops. The apsidal chancel is approached by marble steps through a high, wide chancel arch. Other features include a wooden Perpendicular-style screen with rood, plain arches to narrow ambulatory; carved gilt reredos, painted with statues of The Lord, St James, John the Baptist and Welsh Saints; and a fine octagonal polychrome pulpit (1892) with figures of famous preachers.
Some restoration work took place following a fire in 1925, by Willmot & Smith, architects. This included tiling and the marble steps to chancel; altar, organ, and the War Memorial rood screen. The church closed in 2006 and has been converted to other uses.
Source: extracts from Cadw Listing database.

RCAHMW, 2 December 2014