Chancel

Pages in this section: Inside the Church | Baptistry | Belfry | Chancel | Nave | North Aisle | Sanctuary | South Aisle | South Porch | Vestry | West Porch

The chancel is the eastern part of the church and provides seating for the clergy, servers and choir when they are singing. The word chancel comes from the Latin cancellus meaning lattice. It is the front part of the church where the service is conducted, as distinct from the nave, where the congregation sits. 

The portable altar and the credence table are placed in the chancel for Sunday Parish Communion. The Organ is also situated in the chancel and there are six Choir Stalls and the Bishop Chairs and Litany Desks are housed in the chancel and sanctuary. 

There is only one stained glass window in the chancel on the north side. This was erected in 1921 and commemorates the Revd CR Job. It represents St John the Evangelist (1921) with the inscription 'To the Glory of God and in the Memory of Charles Robert Job, Priest Vicar of this Parish AD 1893-1914 Erected by Parishioners and Friends'.

The chancel is an elevated section, three steps up from the nave. It is separated from the nave by steps, a rail and the arch which has written on it: 'O COME, LET US WORSHIP AND FALL DOWN AND KNEEL BEFORE THE LORD OUR MAKER'.

The chancel roof beams, in the shape of an A and O (shown below), remind us that God is beginning and the end, Alpha and Omega, the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. On the arch corbels in the chancel are the heads of the Virgin Mary on the north side and St James on the south side. They, and more, can be seen on the page Stonework and Tilework in the Chancel.

Find out more

The Chancel Stained Glass Window
The Organ
Choir Stalls
BIshop Chairs and Litany Desks
Stonework and Tilework in the Chancel
The History of St James's Church Buildings