The history of St James Chapel in Marston Meysey is rather complex. Administratively it was at varying times both independent and linked to neighbouring Meysey Hampton, whilst the building itself has fallen derelict, been demolished and then restored or rebuilt numerous times.
A chapel has existed in Marston Meysey since at least 1302, and until the late seventeenth century the chapel was a dependent of Meysey Hampton, in Gloucestershire, first as part of the diocese of Worcester and from 1541 within the diocese of Gloucester. As Marston Meysey was at this time such a small hamlet, it could not afford to pay both its dues to Meysey Hampton and the running costs of its own building and services, and St James Chapel began to deteriorate, beginning a recurrent cycle of neglect and revival.
The chapel had fallen into disuse by 1548, at which time the people of Marston Meysey were recorded as worshipping instead at the church in Meysey Hampton. This situation appears to have continued for 100 years until Marston Maisey was granted full parochial rights in 1648. This seems to have triggered a restoration of the chapel building, after which St James reverted to its previous position as a dependent of Meysey Hampton.
The chapel was rebuilt and restored for a third time in the late 1730s. Marston Maisey’s inhabitants raised the money both for the repairs to the chapel building and also to partially endow a curacy at the parish, although Queen Anne’s Bounty also contributed to the curacy. The curate was officially appointed in 1739, and the chapel was reconsecrated and rededicated to St James in 1742. This also marked the earliest known record of the Chapel’s dedication to St James. Unfortunately, however, this did not mark the end of the chapel’s cycle of restoration and decline. The deed of consecration made the village inhabitants expressly responsible for the maintenance of the chapel and its yard. In what seems to have been a repeat of the problems of the sixteenth century the inhabitants were either unable or unwilling to finance and undertake the necessary work.
A fourth church was then completed in 1876, possibly because the repairs to the 1742 church had proved insufficient. It is this fourth building that currently stands in the village as of 2017. The building was proposed in 1874 and was designed by the architect James Brooks, who also designed the village school. The project cost £900, which was raised by public subscription. Located to the northwest of the old churchyard, in an effort to avoid disturbing the graves, the church is built in the Early English style and incorporated material from the previous chapels.
Of the previous church buildings there is now no trace.
There are a number of points of interest within the church. The first is within the fabric of the building itself, and Pevsner notes that “the surprise of the church is inside: the fact that the chancel is genuinely rib-vaulted in two bays”.
There is a single bell at the chapel, dating to 1741. The bell is inscribed “Henry Bagley Made Mee [sic] 1741”.
The income of the chapel appears to have been rather low. Until the late eighteenth century the entirety of the income from church property and tithes, worth approximately £90 per year in 1784, belonged to the rector of Meysey Hampton. Using money sourced from private contributions and Queen Anne’s Bounty, during the 1730s approximately 14 acres of land in Meysey Hampton was acquired to help finance a curate for the chapel, and this land contributed £34 towards his total income of £50. Between 1775 and 1832 Marston Maisey received a further five payments of £200 from Queen Anne’s Bounty to augment the living of the chapel, however the income from these gifts was only just sufficient to pay the curate’s salary.
As a result of this poverty Marston Maisey was united with Meysey Hampton, the union becoming permanent in 1937. By 2017 this united benefice was part of a wider group of benefices named the South Cotswolds Team Ministry.