St James' Church Welland
There has been a Church of Saint James at Welland since 1300. The Old Church was situated on a different site about a mile from the present Church. Due to an increase in the population of the village in the late 1800s and the deterioration of the Old Church, it was decided to look for another site. Mr Abraham Watkins, Churchwarden, of Welland Villa (now Church Villa), generously gave the plot of land on which the new Church of Saint James was built. The work was commenced in 1873 and the foundation stone was laid on St. James' Day, July 25th of that year. It was consecrated on 2nd April 1875.
The tower has a wooden spire and houses six bells by John Taylor and Co. of Loughborough. The structure is of Malvern Stone, taken from the Gullet Quarry, Castlemorton and faced with Bath stone.
The east window was given by the Countess Beauchamp and is by Hardman and Co., and the stained glass window in the south aisle, dedicated to Benjamin Hall and his wife Elizabeth, is by Charles Earner Kempe. The other stained glass window in the south aisle, came from the Church of the Good Shepherd in Upper Welland (now a private house) in the 1970s. The window in the north aisle and given by the Reverend J. Coombes, is by Edward Green of Hereford.
The clock on the tower was added to commemorate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in 1897. The organ is by W. G. Vowles of Castle Street, Bristol and is used regularly. In the vestry there is a small stone travelling font from the 17th century and brought from the Old Church.
There are two war memorial plaques in the north aisle and books commemorating the villagers who gave their lives in the Great War and World War Two. On the south and north walls are two memorials taken from the Old Church and there are also three brass memorial plaques.
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