St James the Great Church, Wrightington

St James the Great Church, Wrightington
St James the Great Church, Wrightington, from the south
St James the Great Church, Wrightington Location in the Borough of West Lancashire
Coordinates: 53°37′01″N 2°43′03″W / 53.6169°N 2.7175°W / 53.6169; -2.7175
OS grid reference	SD 526,136
Location	Wrightington, Lancashire
Country	England
Denomination	Anglican
Website	St James the Great
History
Dedication	Saint James
Consecrated	1857
Architecture
Status	Parish church
Functional status	Active
Heritage designation	Grade II
Designated	19 August 1988
Architect(s)	E. G. Paley
Architectural type	Church
Style	Gothic Revival
Completed	1857
Specifications
Materials	Sandstone rubble, slate roof
Administration
Parish	Wrightington
Deanery	Chorley
Archdeaconry	Blackburn
Diocese	Blackburn
Province	York
Clergy
Vicar(s)	Revd Polly Mason
Laity
Churchwarden(s)	Anne Sharples
Parish administrator	Mrs S. Crawford

St James the Great Church is in Church Lane, to the west of Wrightington in Lancashire, England. It is an active Anglican parish church in the deanery of Chorley, the archdeaconry of Blackburn, and the diocese of Blackburn. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building.

The Church's community also runs a theatre group, known as 'The St James Players', for people of all age to participate in, and performs an annual play or pantomime in the theatre building directly across from the Church itself.

The church was designed by the Lancaster architect E. G. Paley. It was built in 1854, but not consecrated until 1857. As originally built, it provided seating for 400 people.

St James' is constructed in sandstone rubble and has a slate roof. Its plan consists of a four-bay nave with a south aisle, a south porch, and a chancel. At the west end is a rose window, above which is a gabled bellcote. Along the north wall of the nave are four pairs of lancet windows, between which are buttresses, and along the south wall of the aisle are three similar windows. The chancel has two lancets in the south wall, and a triple stepped lancet window at the east end.

Inside the church is an arcade carried on alternate round and octagonal piers. The church has an open timber roof. The two-manual organ was made in 1916 by Jardine of Manchester and modified in about 1985 by Pendlebury of Cleveleys. The authors of the Buildings of England series express the opinion that the church is "nothing special".