Saint James' Episcopal Church (Batavia, New York)
Encyclopedia
St. James' Episcopal Church is located on East Main Street (New York state routes 5
New York State Route 5
New York State Route 5 is a state highway that extends for across the state of New York in the United States. It begins at the Pennsylvania state line in the Chautauqua County town of Ripley and passes through Buffalo, Syracuse, Utica, Schenectady, and several other smaller cities and...

 and 33
New York State Route 33
New York State Route 33 is an east–west state highway in western New York in the United States. The route extends for just under from NY 5 in Buffalo in the west to NY 31 in Rochester in the east. It is, in fact, the only state highway that directly connects both cities, although...

) in Batavia
Batavia (city), New York
Batavia is a city in Genesee County, Western New York, USA, located near the middle of Genesee County, entirely within the Town of Batavia. Its population as of the 2000 census was 16,256...

, New York, United States. It is a stone Neo-Gothic structure built in the early 20th century.

It was the first of 65 similar churches, most also in Western New York
Western New York
Western New York is the westernmost region of the state of New York. It includes the cities of Buffalo, Rochester, Niagara Falls, the surrounding suburbs, as well as the outlying rural areas of the Great Lakes lowlands, the Genesee Valley, and the Southern Tier. Some historians, scholars and others...

, designed by Robert North, a former choirboy
Choirboy
A choirboy is a boy member of a choir, also known as a treble.As a derisive slang term, it refers to a do-gooder or someone who is morally upright, in the same sense that "Boy Scout" refers to someone who is considered honorable or conscientious.- History :The use of choirboys in Christian...

 at the church. His design was informed by a trip he made to England, paid for by the dying widow who also underwrote the church's construction and wanted a design inspired by "the quiet spirit of the English countryside". North also followed contemporary architects like Ralph Adams Cram
Ralph Adams Cram
Ralph Adams Cram FAIA, , was a prolific and influential American architect of collegiate and ecclesiastical buildings, often in the Gothic style. Cram & Ferguson and Cram, Goodhue & Ferguson are partnerships in which he worked.-Early life:Cram was born on December 16, 1863 at Hampton Falls, New...

 in their desire to extend the Gothic style beyond its medieval models, and made early use of newer building materials like reinforced concrete
Reinforced concrete
Reinforced concrete is concrete in which reinforcement bars , reinforcement grids, plates or fibers have been incorporated to strengthen the concrete in tension. It was invented by French gardener Joseph Monier in 1849 and patented in 1867. The term Ferro Concrete refers only to concrete that is...

 and cast stone
Cast stone
Cast stone is defined as “a refined architectural concrete building unit manufactured to simulate natural cut stone, used in unit masonry applications”. In the UK and Europe cast stone is defined as “any material manufactured with aggregate and cementitious binder, intended to resemble in...

.

It is the third building to house the church, which dates to the early years of Batavia's settlement a century before the church's construction. In 2004 the church building, its rectory
Rectory
A rectory is the residence, or former residence, of a rector, most often a Christian cleric, but in some cases an academic rector or other person with that title...

 and a stone wall were listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

. Around the same time it faced a scandal surrounding the dismissal of its pastor, and the costs of maintaining an aging building raised doubts as to whether the church could continue using it. It is currently trying to raise the money to restore its bell tower
Bell tower
A bell tower is a tower which contains one or more bells, or which is designed to hold bells, even if it has none. In the European tradition, such a tower most commonly serves as part of a church and contains church bells. When attached to a city hall or other civic building, especially in...

.

Buildings and grounds

The church complex is a 2.8 acres (1.1 ha) parcel on the north side of East Main, midway between Ross and Vine streets, just east of downtown Batavia. On the west are two older houses now serving as professional offices; to the east are houses. Across the street are several larger commercial buildings and their parking lots. To the north is a baseball diamond associated with one of the city's elementary schools. Richmond Memorial Library
Richmond Memorial Library
The Richmond Memorial Library is located on Ross Street in Batavia, New York, United States. It is an 1880s stone structure in the Richardsonian Romanesque style designed by Rochester architect James Goold Cutler....

, also listed on the Register, is to the northeast. The church property is on a slight rise in the middle of an otherwise level area.

There are three buildings on the site, between the drives and parking areas on the east and west. The church itself is in the center, with the rectory
Rectory
A rectory is the residence, or former residence, of a rector, most often a Christian cleric, but in some cases an academic rector or other person with that title...

 to its northeast and a storage building to its northeast. A stone retaining wall
Retaining wall
Retaining walls are built in order to hold back earth which would otherwise move downwards. Their purpose is to stabilize slopes and provide useful areas at different elevations, e.g...

 with steps in the middle sets off the large lawn facing East Main on the south. All except the storage building are contributing properties
Contributing property
In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing resource or contributing property is any building, structure, or object which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic district, listed locally or federally, significant...

 to the Register listing.

Church

The church building itself has three sections. The main block, with the sanctuary
Sanctuary
A sanctuary is any place of safety. They may be categorized into human and non-human .- Religious sanctuary :A religious sanctuary can be a sacred place , or a consecrated area of a church or temple around its tabernacle or altar.- Sanctuary as a sacred place :#Sanctuary as a sacred place:#:In...

, is a rectangular structure of sandstone laid in random ashlar
Ashlar
Ashlar is prepared stone work of any type of stone. Masonry using such stones laid in parallel courses is known as ashlar masonry, whereas masonry using irregularly shaped stones is known as rubble masonry. Ashlar blocks are rectangular cuboid blocks that are masonry sculpted to have square edges...

 sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...

 with a steeply pitched gable
Gable
A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of a sloping roof. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system being used and aesthetic concerns. Thus the type of roof enclosing the volume dictates the shape of the gable...

d roof sheathed in blue and gray slate. It is dominated by the square bell tower
Bell tower
A bell tower is a tower which contains one or more bells, or which is designed to hold bells, even if it has none. In the European tradition, such a tower most commonly serves as part of a church and contains church bells. When attached to a city hall or other civic building, especially in...

 at the south (front) end.

Along both sides are stepped stone buttress
Buttress
A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall...

es. All the Tudor Revival arched doors and stained glass
Stained glass
The term stained glass can refer to coloured glass as a material or to works produced from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant buildings...

 windows have smooth finished limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....

 and cast stone surrounds. The large windows on the north and south sides have Decorated Gothic stone mullion
Mullion
A mullion is a vertical structural element which divides adjacent window units. The primary purpose of the mullion is as a structural support to an arch or lintel above the window opening. Its secondary purpose may be as a rigid support to the glazing of the window...

s; the aisle windows have Perpendicular Gothic mullions with quatrefoil
Quatrefoil
The word quatrefoil etymologically means "four leaves", and applies to general four-lobed shapes in various contexts.-In heraldry:In heraldic terminology, a quatrefoil is a representation of a flower with four petals, or a leaf with four leaflets . It is sometimes shown "slipped", i.e. with an...

 carvings in the apex. Small windows are located in the clerestory
Clerestory
Clerestory is an architectural term that historically denoted an upper level of a Roman basilica or of the nave of a Romanesque or Gothic church, the walls of which rise above the rooflines of the lower aisles and are pierced with windows. In modern usage, clerestory refers to any high windows...

.

At the base of the bell tower is the wooden main entrance. Above it is the large southern window, with two vents having patina
Patina
Patina is a tarnish that forms on the surface of bronze and similar metals ; a sheen on wooden furniture produced by age, wear, and polishing; or any such acquired change of a surface through age and exposure...

ted copper louver
Louver
A louver or louvre , from the French l'ouvert; "the open one") is a window, blind or shutter with horizontal slats that are angled to admit light and air, but to keep out rain, direct sunshine, and noise...

s and an empty niche in between at the belfry
Belfry
The term belfry has a variety of uses:*Bell tower, an architectural term*Belfry, a type of medieval siege tower*Belfry, Montana, a town in the United States*The Belfry, an English golf club...

 stage. A bas-relief Celtic cross
Celtic cross
A Celtic cross is a symbol that combines a cross with a ring surrounding the intersection. In the Celtic Christian world it was combined with the Christian cross and this design was often used for high crosses – a free-standing cross made of stone and often richly decorated...

 rises to the parapet
Parapet
A parapet is a wall-like barrier at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony or other structure. Where extending above a roof, it may simply be the portion of an exterior wall that continues above the line of the roof surface, or may be a continuation of a vertical feature beneath the roof such as a...

ed roofline.

On the west side is the church's office wing. It is a two-story Tudor Revival structure with the lower story sided in random ashlar stone and stucco
Stucco
Stucco or render is a material made of an aggregate, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as decorative coating for walls and ceilings and as a sculptural and artistic material in architecture...

 and the upper in half-timber. At the top is a deocrative cross-gabled roof; on the sides are multi-paned casement window
Casement window
A casement window is a window that is attached to its frame by one or more hinges. Casement windows are hinged at the side. A casement window (or casement) is a window that is attached to its frame by one or more hinges. Casement windows are hinged at the side. A casement window (or casement) is a...

s. A newer concrete block educational wing projects from its north.

Interior

Inside, the tower base's high arch makes it a narthex
Narthex
The narthex of a church is the entrance or lobby area, located at the end of the nave, at the far end from the church's main altar. Traditionally the narthex was a part of the church building, but was not considered part of the church proper...

, with a glazed wood screen setting it apart from the nave
Nave
In Romanesque and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar, the main body of the church. "Nave" was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting...

. The white marble baptismal font
Baptismal font
A baptismal font is an article of church furniture or a fixture used for the baptism of children and adults.-Aspersion and affusion fonts:...

 is located in the center aisle a short distance from the nave. The floor is terra cotta
Terra cotta
Terracotta, Terra cotta or Terra-cotta is a clay-based unglazed ceramic, although the term can also be applied to glazed ceramics where the fired body is porous and red in color...

 panels set in cast concrete. Walls are done in unpainted stone, cast stone and plaster scored to resemble stone. Dark stained
Wood stain
A wood stain consists of a colorant suspended or dissolved in a 'vehicle' or solvent. The suspension agent can be water, alcohol, petroleum distillate, or the actual finishing agent...

 oak panels complement the similar pew
Pew
A pew is a long bench seat or enclosed box used for seating members of a congregation or choir in a church, or sometimes in a courtroom.-Overview:Churches were not commonly furnished with permanent pews before the Protestant Reformation...

s.

The west aisle leads to a chantry
Chantry
Chantry is the English term for a fund established to pay for a priest to celebrate sung Masses for a specified purpose, generally for the soul of the deceased donor. Chantries were endowed with lands given by donors, the income from which maintained the chantry priest...

 altar and aumbry
Aumbry
In the Middle Ages an aumbry was a cabinet in the wall of a Christian church or in the sacristy which was used to store chalices and other vessels, as well as for the reserved sacrament, the consecrated elements from the Eucharist. This latter use was infrequent in pre-Reformation churches,...

. Behind it is the organ chamber. A wood screen similar to the narthex screen sets off the chapel
Chapel
A chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...

 on the east side.

At the north end is a traditional deep square chancel
Chancel
In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar in the sanctuary at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building...

 set off from the nave by a stone wall with brass gates. A white marble pulpit
Pulpit
Pulpit is a speakers' stand in a church. In many Christian churches, there are two speakers' stands at the front of the church. Typically, the one on the left is called the pulpit...

 and lectern
Lectern
A lectern is a reading desk with a slanted top, usually placed on a stand or affixed to some other form of support, on which documents or books are placed as support for reading aloud, as in a scripture reading, lecture, or sermon...

 with brass eagle motif flank the steps. In the center is the white marble altar, originally against the north wall. Now located behind it is a paneled reredos
Reredos
thumb|300px|right|An altar and reredos from [[St. Josaphat's Roman Catholic Church|St. Josaphat Catholic Church]] in [[Detroit]], [[Michigan]]. This would be called a [[retable]] in many other languages and countries....

 with three niches. The center one has a figure of Christ holding his hand out in blessing. It is flanked by smaller niches with figures of St. James
James the Just
James , first Bishop of Jerusalem, who died in 62 AD, was an important figure in Early Christianity...

 and St. John
John the Baptist
John the Baptist was an itinerant preacher and a major religious figure mentioned in the Canonical gospels. He is described in the Gospel of Luke as a relative of Jesus, who led a movement of baptism at the Jordan River...

. On either side of the chancel are choir stalls.

The inside of the office wing is minimally decorated. It has plaster walls and simple architrave
Architrave
An architrave is the lintel or beam that rests on the capitals of the columns. It is an architectural element in Classical architecture.-Classical architecture:...

 door and window surrounds. The doors are paneled oak; other woodwork is stained in dark walnut
Walnut
Juglans is a plant genus of the family Juglandaceae, the seeds of which are known as walnuts. They are deciduous trees, 10–40 meters tall , with pinnate leaves 200–900 millimetres long , with 5–25 leaflets; the shoots have chambered pith, a character shared with the wingnuts , but not the hickories...

. To the north the education wing has plain walls of painted concrete block; the fellowship hall has a large ceiling on laminated Tudor arched truss
Truss
In architecture and structural engineering, a truss is a structure comprising one or more triangular units constructed with straight members whose ends are connected at joints referred to as nodes. External forces and reactions to those forces are considered to act only at the nodes and result in...

es.

Rectory and storage building

The rectory is a two-story Tudor Revival house with a cross-gabled roof. A garage is attached to the north. Its half-timbered stucco walls have a bank of casement windows on the south and paired casement windows elsewhere. The storage building is a simple gabled wood frame building with a north-south orientation. On its south end a rolling door is sheltered by a deep projection of the roof supported by wooden posts.

History

The St. James congregation was founded in 1815, in the early days of Batavia's settlement as the center of the Holland Purchase
Holland Purchase
The Holland Purchase was a large tract of land in what is now the western portion of the U.S. state of New York. It consisted of about 3,250,000 acres of land from a line approximately 12 miles to the west of the Genesee River to the present western border and boundary of New York State.The land...

, most of today's Western New York
Western New York
Western New York is the westernmost region of the state of New York. It includes the cities of Buffalo, Rochester, Niagara Falls, the surrounding suburbs, as well as the outlying rural areas of the Great Lakes lowlands, the Genesee Valley, and the Southern Tier. Some historians, scholars and others...

, eight years before the settlement itself was incorporated
Municipal corporation
A municipal corporation is the legal term for a local governing body, including cities, counties, towns, townships, charter townships, villages, and boroughs. Municipal incorporation occurs when such municipalities become self-governing entities under the laws of the state or province in which...

 as a village. Throughout the rest of the century it occupied two buildings on Ellicott Street, neither of which are extant. Adelaide Richmond Kenny, a congregant and the only daughter of Dean Richmond
Dean Richmond
Dean Richmond was Batavia, New York's railroad magnate, director of the Utica and Buffalo Railroad Company, First Vice President of the New York Central Railroad, and from 1864 to 1866, president of the New York Central. He was born in the town of Barnard, Vermont on March 31, 1804, and was a...

, a local railroad executive who served as president of the New York Central
New York Central Railroad
The New York Central Railroad , known simply as the New York Central in its publicity, was a railroad operating in the Northeastern United States...

, donated the money for the new church in the last years of her life. It was the culmination of over three decades of local philanthropy following her brief marriage, in which she also endowed nearby Batavia Hospital.

In the early years of the 20th century, she gave Robert North $600 ($ in contemporary dollars.) to travel to the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, directing him to "design a church in the quiet spirit of the English countryside." He received the formal commission three days after Kenny died.

That instruction brought North, a former St. James' choirboy
Choirboy
A choirboy is a boy member of a choir, also known as a treble.As a derisive slang term, it refers to a do-gooder or someone who is morally upright, in the same sense that "Boy Scout" refers to someone who is considered honorable or conscientious.- History :The use of choirboys in Christian...

 who had studied architecture at Cornell
Cornell University College of Architecture, Art, and Planning
The College of Architecture, Art, and Planning at Cornell University was established in 1871 as the School of Architecture with the hiring of Charles Babcock as the first Professor creating the first four-year course of study in architecture in the United States...

, into close contact with the type of churches held up as architectural exemplars in The Ecclesiologist a half-century before. Those English country churches had inspired Richard Upjohn
Richard Upjohn
Richard Upjohn was an English-born architect who emigrated to the United States and became most famous for his Gothic Revival churches. He was partially responsible for launching the movement to such popularity in the United States. Upjohn also did extensive work in and helped to popularize the...

, Frederick Clarke Withers
Frederick Clarke Withers
Frederick Clarke Withers was an successful English architect in America, especially renowned for his Gothic Revival church designs.-Biography:...

 and other Gothic Revival architects of that era. Contemporary architects like Ralph Adams Cram
Ralph Adams Cram
Ralph Adams Cram FAIA, , was a prolific and influential American architect of collegiate and ecclesiastical buildings, often in the Gothic style. Cram & Ferguson and Cram, Goodhue & Ferguson are partnerships in which he worked.-Early life:Cram was born on December 16, 1863 at Hampton Falls, New...

, Bertram Goodhue
Bertram Goodhue
Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue was a American architect celebrated for his work in neo-gothic design. He also designed notable typefaces, including Cheltenham and Merrymount for the Merrymount Press.-Early career:...

 and Henry Vaughan
Henry Vaughan (Architect)
Henry Vaughan , a prolific and talented church architect, came to America to bring the English Gothic style to the American branch of the Anglican Communion . He was an apprentice under George Frederick Bodley and went on to great success popularizing the Gothic Revival style.-Life:Vaughan was...

 were also designing churches from those models, but they believed that the style offered potential that had not been explored when it intially fell out of favor in the 16th century. Their churches, which emphasized clarity of design and functionality over the Picturesque
Picturesque
Picturesque is an aesthetic ideal introduced into English cultural debate in 1782 by William Gilpin in Observations on the River Wye, and Several Parts of South Wales, etc. Relative Chiefly to Picturesque Beauty; made in the Summer of the Year 1770, a practical book which instructed England's...

 elements of the earlier Gothic-inspired architects, were called Neo-Gothic.

North's church was a sophisticated example of the style, one that anticipates later neo-Gothic churches. It recalls medieval models with its restrained decoration
Ornament (architecture)
In architecture and decorative art, ornament is a decoration used to embellish parts of a building or object. Large figurative elements such as monumental sculpture and their equivalents in decorative art are excluded from the term; most ornament does not include human figures, and if present they...

 and buttress
Buttress
A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall...

es outside. The inside also seems at first to be strictly following medieval precepts, but the high arch in the lower story of the tower, giving the effect of a continuation of the nave
Nave
In Romanesque and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar, the main body of the church. "Nave" was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting...

, departs from that model. North also made use of some new building materials of his time, such as structural reinforced concrete
Reinforced concrete
Reinforced concrete is concrete in which reinforcement bars , reinforcement grids, plates or fibers have been incorporated to strengthen the concrete in tension. It was invented by French gardener Joseph Monier in 1849 and patented in 1867. The term Ferro Concrete refers only to concrete that is...

, particularly in the floor, and cast stone
Cast stone
Cast stone is defined as “a refined architectural concrete building unit manufactured to simulate natural cut stone, used in unit masonry applications”. In the UK and Europe cast stone is defined as “any material manufactured with aggregate and cementitious binder, intended to resemble in...

 in the exterior tracery. He went on to design 65 other churches throughout Western New York in a similar style.

The rectory was built in the same Tudor Revival as the office wing, in 1929. In 1953 the education wing was added to the latter's north end. Inside the sanctuary
Sanctuary
A sanctuary is any place of safety. They may be categorized into human and non-human .- Religious sanctuary :A religious sanctuary can be a sacred place , or a consecrated area of a church or temple around its tabernacle or altar.- Sanctuary as a sacred place :#Sanctuary as a sacred place:#:In...

 the altar has been moved off the north wall, in keeping with modern liturgical
Liturgy
Liturgy is either the customary public worship done by a specific religious group, according to its particular traditions or a more precise term that distinguishes between those religious groups who believe their ritual requires the "people" to do the "work" of responding to the priest, and those...

 trends. There have been no other significant changes to the building and grounds since construction.

As its centennial neared, St. James was at the center of a scandal. Rector Simon Howson was dismissed
Termination of employment
-Involuntary termination:Involuntary termination is the employee's departure at the hands of the employer. There are two basic types of involuntary termination, known often as being "fired" and "laid off." To be fired, as opposed to being laid off, is generally thought of to be the employee's...

 in 2004 after allegations that he had stolen from the church. A month later he filed a wrongful termination suit against the Episcopal Diocese of Western New York, claiming he had been retaliated against by the bishop for reporting sexual harassment
Sexual harassment
Sexual harassment, is intimidation, bullying or coercion of a sexual nature, or the unwelcome or inappropriate promise of rewards in exchange for sexual favors. In some contexts or circumstances, sexual harassment is illegal. It includes a range of behavior from seemingly mild transgressions and...

 by a visiting gay priest from Massachusetts. He was defrocked in 2007. The following year he and the diocese settled
Settlement (law)
In law, a settlement is a resolution between disputing parties about a legal case, reached either before or after court action begins. The term "settlement" also has other meanings in the context of law.-Basis:...

 for an undisclosed amount.

At that time the building's design and age were also issues for the church. The costs of maintaining its declining structure were further strained when the church's endowment lost money in the stock market declines of the late 2000s. Utility bills alone reached $60,000 a month. Howson's replacement had to leave since the congregation could not afford a full-time pastor, and the congregation pondered whether it should leave the building. Under new vicar
Vicar
In the broadest sense, a vicar is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior . In this sense, the title is comparable to lieutenant...

Stephen Metcalfe, who took over in 2010, the church is hoping to raise the money to rehabilitate the aging bell tower.

External links

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