St James’ Church

St James’ Church

About our church…

St James is located on the outskirts of Bourton in the direction of Bishopstone. It was founded and built in 1859 following the purchase of a plot of land by Mr T. Tucker, and its foundation stone was laid on August 8th of that year by Jane – Viscount Barrington.  Prior to this the village had no church, and villagers would meet in a hut at the bottom of The Hill to worship.

Bourton is a small village, but the church remains important both to the village which holds services there twice a month (first Saturday at 10am and third Sunday at 10am), and to Pinewood school. Village services welcome adults and children alike to enjoy the service, followed by a catch up over coffee and biscuits.  Take a look at the events calendar on the village website for details of upcoming services and other events. There are also daily services online via Facebook and a weekly sermon. Please visit the Benefice website for details here

The highlight of year is our candlelit service on Christmas Eve at where villagers can enjoy singing Carols together whilst enjoying mulled wine.

If you wish to hold a baptism, wedding or funeral at St James, or if you’re interested in helping out or would like details of services, please get in touch with the Benefice administrator. Details can be found below.

Church Renovations

Our last quinquennial report showed increasing problems in the church building including issues with damp, electrics, windows and stonework. This is unsurprising, given the last major restoration of the building was over 35 years ago.

Both the village and Pinewood school have done some brilliant fundraising, which has enabled us to start to tackle repairs, but this ongoing and the church is always in need of funds. If you would like to donate then you can become a friend of St James Church and commit a regular donation, or sign up to our Parish Giving scheme. Alternatively you can give a one off donation. If you would like to donate then please do contact Sarah Howell, our church warden for details.

The main contacts for the church are :

Sarah Howell (Downland View) – Church Warden & Benefice PCC member
jbourton6@gmail.com or 07717 512000
Lucy Laird – Benefice administrator
Rev Norma Fergusson – Associate Vicar
vicar@shrivenhamandashbury.co.uk

For full details about the whole Benefice including Bourton you can visit the Shrivenham & Ashbury Benefice website here