Welcome to historic Saint James Church Goose Creek, South Carolina
South Carolina's Historic church Treasure which is a landmark of historical buildings.
In 1706, the General Assembly passed an act that made the Church of England the Established Church in South Carolina and laid out nine parishes, one of which was Saint James in Goose Creek. The first church was a wooden building but the construction of the existing brick church began at about 1713.
It is said that the presence of the royal coat of arms over the pulpit saved the church from destruction in 1779 to 1780 when British troops overran South Carolina during the Revolution. Services were discontinued during the latter part of the war and the Church of England was disestablished.
The Church is a small, one-story structure with stucco-covered brick walls and a slate of jerkinhead roof. Rectangular in shape, it is 50 feet long and 40 feet wide.The round-arched windows are protected by exterior wooden shutters and framed by plaster architraves adorned with cherubs’ heads.
The west end has the main entrance and flanking arched windows.The frieze, carried by flanking Roman Doric pilasters, is adorned by triangular pediment bears of stucco relief pelican piercing her breast with her own beak to nourish her young. This is the symbol adopted by the Anglican Society 1702.
The interior features a rectangular plan, nave, and flanking aisles dividing the 18th-century box pews and a pair of colonnades that run from west end to the chancel. The flat plaster ceiling is higher over the nave than the aisles.
Inside the church are a curved pulpit, reading desk, and sounding board behind which rises a large baroque-painted plaster reredos. Two pairs of composite pilasters carry the broken ends of a heavily enriched scroll pediment.