page_title: William Swinden Barber
section_title: Church of St James the Less, New Mills, 1880
hierarchical_section_title: William Swinden Barber / Independent works / Church of St James the Less, New Mills, 1880
caption_attribution_description: St James the Less Church, Spring Bank, New Mills, Derbyshire.Built 1880 and designed by William Swinden Barber. It is now an arts centre.
context_page_description: William Swinden Barber FRIBA, also W. S. Barber or W. Swinden Barber, was an English Gothic Revival and Arts and Crafts architect, specialising in modest but finely furnished Anglican churches. The Barber churches often had crenellated bell-towers. He was based in Brighouse and Halifax in the West Riding of Yorkshire. At least 15 surviving examples of his work are Grade II listed buildings including his 1875 design for the Victoria Cross at Akroydon. An 1864 portrait by David Wilkie Wynfield depicts him in Romantic garb, holding a flower. He served in the Artists Rifles regiment in the 1860s alongside Wynfield and other contemporary artists.
context_section_description: This is a Grade II listed building in New Mills; the associated almshouses, also designed by Barber in 1880, are also Grade II listed. Barber said he bore "ungrudging testimony to the good workmanship and willingness" of his craftsmen on this job. St James the Less, consecrated on 11 October 1880, is a decorated Gothic Revival and Arts and Crafts building in a style reminiscent of the late 13th century. The client wanted a simple building, but accepted decoration within, including windows by Charles Eamer Kempe. It is built of local stone. In keeping with Arts and Crafts principles, local craftsmen were used: stonemason Thomas Stafford and joiner Joseph Hudson. The interior wall frescoes and stencilled designs are by Powell Bros of Leeds, and this decoration may be the only existing example of Charles and Albert Powell's interior painting schemes; their primary commissions were stained glass windows. They painted the ceiling red and gold. This church at Spring Bank, New Mills, Derbyshire, was restored in 2011–2012 and is now Spring Bank Arts Centre.
   Media related to St James the Less Church, New Mills at Wikimedia Commons
caption: St James the Less
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