The Story of St James' Church
In the second half of the 12th century the chapel in Wick was given to Ewenny Priory 'on condition that the Prior provide for three services weekly'.
At some stage it was annexed to the parish of St Brides Major. We know that this was the position in 1563 and that it was served by vicars of St Brides until 1950, when the villages of Wick, Monknash and Marcross were combined to form a single benefice, which in turn became part of the Rectorial Benefice of Llantwit Major in 1983.
The oldest features or the church are the chancel arch, the chancel window and the font, which are Norman. The stone altar has a pre-Reformation mensa slab with a cross carved into the centre.
The remains of a medieval preaching cross in the churchyard are separately listed as a Grade II monument, classed as 'at risk'.
By the mid-19th century the building had fallen into decay. It also needed to accommodate more people. With the help of a grant from the Incorporated Church Building Society, major work was undertaken under the direction of John Prichard, the Diocesan Architect. This involved substantially rebuilding the north wall and replacing windows. The windows from this era are in the Early English style, rising to a point, following the shape of a niche which already existed in the sanctuary. In keeping with the fashion of the time, multi-coloured stonework was used around the windows.
The porch and vestry were also added, while the tower was heightened by four to five feet and capped with a pitched ‘saddleback’ roof in a style adopted for some other churches in this part of South Wales and the Gower peninsula.
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