The ornate chalice and paten The plain chalice and paten

Historical Background to St. James's Chalices and Patens
The Victoria and Albert Museum inspected St. James's chalices and patens in 1979. There were a number of silver marks on the ornate chalice - none very clear and none recognisably English. Underneath were scratched the initials H.I.K. 1818. This chalice was confirmed baroque, made in Cologne in about 1760. The stones had been set at a later date in silver-plated copper (perhaps by H.I.K. in 1818?)

The paten had an English 1879 mark and maker’s initials E.C.B., and presumably had been made to match the chalice. Both chalice and paten had obviously once been gilded, but most of this has been cleaned off. There is no record of how they came to St. James's. Two "beautiful carbuncles which had long been missing from the silver-gilt chalice" were gifted to the church some time during Revd. Job's incumbency.

The other chalice is mass-produced silver-plate, marked 1884, so the baroque one must have come to St. James's in 1863 when the church was opened and been used with the plain silver-plated paten (dated 1859). Maybe it was an acquisition of the young FitzWygram on the Grand Tour.

There is no record of the origin of the matching paten in the Vestry minutes and the Parish Magazine did not then exist. The V. & A. could not identify the maker E.C.B., but with its acquisition the plain paten would become superfluous until the arrival of the matching chalice and flagon, both dated 1884, to complete a second set of plate. The silver and glass cruet must also have been acquired early, and is dated 1866.

The baptismal shell

In 2008, a second plain chalice was purchased, together with a ciborium of matching design which replaced the use of the paten to hold the communion wafers. Read the article The Church Plate.

The Baptismal Shell
The mother-of-pearl baptismal shell has a silver cross handle and has been used to pour water over a baby's head when being baptised. It is inscribed "Glory to God on High" and has hall marks "JWJ" and a lion.

Historical Background to some Church Textiles
The magazine of November 1899 reported: “The Churchwardens are anxious that the seats in the Church shall ultimately be all supplied with mats of the same pattern, and they wish me to ask if those who propose to put new mats in their pews will most kindly help to carry out this idea by selecting the red and black pattern which already largely prevails in the Church.” A sample of this was available at the shop of Messrs. Jones & Peers, in the High Street.

Many gifts have been presented to the church throughout the years, most of which have not been officially recorded. As well as stained glass windows, plaques, tablets, crosses and others, there have been gifts of various kinds of textiles. During Revd. Job's incumbency some gifts included twenty hassocks, a large new mat for the porch, a set of white embroidered alms bags, choir cassocks and embroidered bookmarkers. A white altar frontal and a gold altar frontal, on a crimson background surrounded by valuable lace from the island of Corfu, were given for the "Holy Table".

Two hassocks

A new curtain was placed on the west wall of the church which “added greatly to the beauty of the Church and gave completeness to that part of it”. Mrs. FitzWygram donated hassocks (kneelers) for the free seats in 1910 and money was given in 1922 to buy a hundred new hassocks for the free pews in the south aisle. “It would add greatly to the appearance of the Church if those who have sittings would see that their hassocks were kept in good condition.” New hassocks were purchased in 1960 to replace the old, worn-out ones still in use. The creation of a series of new kneelers was a millennium project for the church which involved a group of women who used their talents and artistic energy to give something lasting to St. James's. There are four kneelers depicting the four seasons and others show the emblems for the guides and scouts, Mothers Union and New Start. The remaining designs are based on the tiles and stained glass windows in the church. See all St. James's kneelers and read the article Kneeler Project.

The altar frontal

Around the time of Revd. Coad Pryor's incumbency, gifts included a set of beautifully worked offertory bags, a new book marker for the lectern and some other, embroidered, bookmarkers. A grant of £20 was obtained from the Kingston Trust and spent on the renewal of some of the cassocks and surplices, and a hand made linen covering for the credence table, beautifully edged with lace. A church flag, a handsome St. George's flag, was presented to the church and replaced the old Union flag which was very much the worse for wear. The new flag was flown for the first time on the occasion of the 1935 fete.

A special gift from the members of the Mothers' Union, a new linen altar cloth hand embroidered in the corners and totally covering the altar, was given in 1983. Two years later another beautiful white altar frontal was made. The design was based on ‘St. James the Fisherman’, incorporating the shell emblem of St. James with the colour scheme matching the terracotta mosaic tiles of the chancel. The cross was the dominant feature rising out of the turbulent sea (world) and the ‘waves’ appearing from the distance of the nave as bowed heads. Read the article The New Altar Frontal.