The church of St James is situated in a wooded hollow formed by two small streams that eventually flow north-westwards to enter the sea at Budehaven. As St James is bordered on three sides by water it is especially interesting to note the fact that in the Domesday Survey of William the Conqueror the land in the area came under the name Pen-fon (Cornish for spring head). Now added to this the fact that if you were able to follow the north-side stream back in a westerly direction for about half a mile or so you would come to the location of the St James Holy Well.
The present parish name Jacobstow derives from the Latin translation of the Patron Saint of the church St James the Great and that being Jacobus we get Jacobstow. James is described in the Gospels as the son of Zebedee and the brother of St John. He was one of the three disciples who witnessed the Transfiguration and the Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane. James was also the first apostle to die for the Christian faith, being put to the sword by King Herod Agrippa.
The most famous centre of pilgrimage is to St James the Great at Compostella in Northern Spain, and it is quite possible that the Christian site of Jacobstow was a stopping off point for pilgrims from Wales and Ireland.
Evidence of a Saxon church can be found in the Holy Water Stoup beside the South entrance as it is thought to be constructed from part of the Saxon font.
There was a Norman church on this site which must of replaced an earlier building.
The Norman Font is a splendid example of the period (1150-1200) and is cut from Tintagle Greenstone. A very similar font in Polyphant Stone is to be found in St Werburgha's in Warbstow-it to has geometric patterns encircled by strange serpents and Norman male heads at the four corners there are nine such fonts in Cornwall which appear to be the work of the same craftsman.
If you look carefully at the wall behind the altar of Our Lady it is possible to make out a square indentation on the left side - this is where the squint was before it was filled in many, many generations ago. in pre-reformation times the squint allowed a view of the high altar from a side chapel for the laity and in many cases it provided access to the Eucharistic bread and wine for lepers and diseased outcast's.
15th Century.
The present church mostly dates from this period.
The South porch contains a niche where a fine statue of St James must of stood before the vandalism of the Reformation and post Reformation period.
Inside the church the ten granite pillars are typically Cornish, and the North and South aisles have their original ceilings.
At the east end of the North Aisle you will see the entrance and staircase which went up to the gallery of the long demolished Rood Screen-another victim to the Protestant church reforms.
16th Century
The Tower dates around 1520 and is very imposing 85 feet high-second only in height to Probus in all the parish churches in Cornwall. There is a niche up the west (road side) of the tower where a further statue of St James must of stood.
17th Century.
The Altar of St James is a splendid Elizabethan Altar table (restored in 1926) and replaced the earlier pre- reformation altar of the church.
It is an interesting story what happened to the earlier Altar. In the 1800's, during the building of a better road through the village, it was recognised by the Rector of the time, whose task it was to oversee the work, as being the granite footbridge used to cross one of the streams -a job well done for 300 years! It was taken to the church and placed in the yard on the north-side of the church where it was used as a seat for over 100 years until the Rev Michael Pearce had the altar re-dedicated to Our Lady and installed in the South Aisle chapel in 1972. If you look carefully you will see the carved crosses of the Holy Mysteries-the outstanding confirmation of the proper function of this huge granite slab.
The Victorian Pulpit incorporates the Tudor bench ends from the earlier seating. These splendid wood carvings display the implements of the passion.
The list of priests found near the South Door begins in 1270 with Richard de Centrefort.
On the way out of the church and going straight into the church yard a flat slate gravestone can be found with the three piglets! All Jacobstow children have been to see them and many have taken a rubbing.