For more than 800 years a church has stood on the site of St James’. The church is not only an important part of Weybridge’s architectural heritage, but also a beautiful landmark that gives Weybridge its unique character.
Since the formation of the Association in 1988, the Friends of St James’ (FOSJ) have raised over £200,000 towards church building / fabric and essential maintenance projects.
For an application form to join please contact Carole Merritt for more information – zcj.merritt@btinternet.com – 01932 845174.
Sunday 8th February 2026
Proposed date for the AGM to take place, 11.30 am in the Parish Centre, small hall. All are welcome as we review the past year and look forward to the future.
Saturday 28th February 2026
Following her brilliant talk last year on ‘The Spymaster’, we’ve managed to book Dr. Helen Fry again. This time she will be telling us about the various roles that women played in WWI and II (especially in espionage) on war time exploits, usually featuring unsung heroes and heroines. If you missed her before, do look at her website: Dr Helen Fry Many of you will remember her fascinating ‘Spymaster’ talk in April 2023 and won’t want to miss her next visit.
The Friends have helped St James’ Church, Weybridge achieve so much in the past few years – THANK YOU!
£40k in 2024 – Tower/Spire Pointing Project and the Parochial Church Council set aside this money in a Diocesan secure ‘restricted’ fund for this purpose. This donation from The Friends of St James’ followed recommendations for works to the Spire found in the 2024 Quinquennial Inspection Report. In Autumn 2024 the PCC appointed Wall Walkers to carry out a full and thorough inspection of the Tower and Spire, which identified some significant pointing and stone works are required. In early 2025, the PCC used its own funds to appoint the Church architect (John Bailey of Thomas Ford & Partners) to prepare a schedule of works, based on the report received. In late summer 2025, several specialist firms were invited to bid to complete this work. In November 2025 JP Conservation were appointed as the main contractor. The faculty process was completed in January 2026 and work began in earnest immediately, without the need for scaffolding significant areas of the Tower and Spire. The total height of St James’ Spire is 150feet – no wonder it is described as “The Cathedral of the Thames Valley” – one of the tallest structures in north west Surrey (only beaten by a roller coaster at Thorpe Park!)
The Photos show Carlo and Sam at 145feet high, looking back down towards the Parish Centre, a view of Sam looking out towards the Quadrant and Men’s Shed, and a roof level view looking up at the work being undertaken.
Another important project supported by FoSJ is the heating system renewal, with £12k of new, much more efficient radiators installed in November 2025. The Friends of St James were delighted to be able to support The Parochial Church Council in the second phase of essential church heating works. New radiators, some being a direct replacement/modernisation of fans (these circulate heat more widely), with 3 new wall-fitted low level radiators for the North Aisle and one for the Lady Chapel (these sit at or just below chair height) and two low level old-school dark grey box iron radiators for All Souls Chapel.
The work downstairs in the Crypt to replace the old boiler and equipment was completed in Spring 2025, following the discovery of essential repairs to the vaulted ceiling and a missing lintel to the external vestry wall, which delayed this project by more than 8 months.
With the new boilers in operation, the interior of St James’ Church is already much warmer. In order that the stonework may be kept at between 10-12oC throughout the winter months, helping to reduce expansion and contraction, the heating system will run 24/7, and only be raised to 18oC for services/concerts/events. This is a managed approach to helping maintain the fabric of St James’ as recommended by heritage experts. The difference the new condensing boilers and pumping system has made is already evident – internal walls are dry and the congregation happy!
We hope you will agree these are two really important projects that care for the fabric of our beautiful Church. Thank you for your financial support, which has enabled the Friends to help in this way. Please do continue to support our efforts to raise funds that look after our Church and the iconic structure at the heart of Weybridge Town Centre – our local landmark, loved by many.