St James' Church, Wrightington Bar

St James’ Church stands on Church Lane, west of Wrightington in Lancashire. It is an active Anglican parish church designed by the Lancaster architect E. G. Paley and built in 1854. The building is made of sandstone rubble with a slate roof and has a four-bay nave with a south aisle and a south porch. A rose window sits above the gabled bellcote at the west end, and buttresses line the north wall. The chancel features two lancets in the south wall and a triple stepped lancet window at the east end. The church is recognised on the National Heritage List for England as a Grade II listed building. It originally seated 400 people and was consecrated in 1857. Inside, an arcade is carried on alternate round and octagonal piers, and the open timber roof adds to the interior’s character. The two-manual organ was made in 1916 by Jardine of Manchester and later modified in about 1985 by Pendlebury of Cleveleys. Across from the church, the community runs a theatre group called The St James Players. They perform an annual play or pantomime in the theatre building. The churchyard contains war graves of a soldier and an airman from the Second World War. The church itself, according to the Buildings of England series, is described as ‘nothing special’, yet it remains a valued local landmark.