The Church of St James is an active Anglican church in the villageSmall rural collection of buildings with a church. of Baldersby St James, North Yorkshire. It is in the Archdeaconry of Cleveland, the Deanery of Mowbray, the Diocese of York, and is one of the churches in the BeneficeOriginally used in feudal societies to describe a grant of land as a reward for services rendered. In modern usage it refers to a collection of parishes working together under a single incumbent. of Topcliffe, Baldersby with Dishforth and Skipton on Swale, and Dalton.^[1]

Designed by William Butterfield for Viscount Downe of Baldersby Park, the church was built between 1856 and 1858. It was designated a Grade I listed building in 1971.^[1] The Church’s lych gateRoofed-over gateway into a churchyard. is separately Grade I listed,^[2] and the boundary wall of the churchyard is a Grade II listed structure.^[3]

The Viscount was motivated to build St James to persuade the then Bishop of Bath and Wells to consent to his marriage to the bishop’s daughter.^[1]

Architecture

High Victorian in style, St James is constructed of snecked stone with ashlarMasonry of squared and finely cut or worked stone, commonly used for the facing of a building. details, and has a red tile roof. It comprises a west tower, a five-bay aisledPart of a church on either side of the nave or choir, separated from them by arcades, colonnades or piers. More generally, a passageway between seats in an auditorium, shelves in a supermarket and so on. naveCentral part of a church, used by the laiety., a south porchVestibule before the main entrance to a Christian church, less sacred than the church proper., and a two-bay unaisled chancePart of a church containing the altar, used by the officiating clergy.l. Butterfield’s interior decoration and fittings have survived almost intact.^[1]