You could never have any doubt about the dedication of this church, because all around the base course of the tower are scallop shells, the pilgrim symbol of St James. The tower dates from the middle years of the fifteenth century, slightly earlier than its neighbour at Northrepps, and is replete with flushwork and carving. The west door is a grand entrance, the bell windows tall and elegant. It rises almost fifty metres, a beacon over Poppyland. For Frank Allen, writing the definitive account of English church towers in the 1930s, Southrepps served as an exemplar for anyone wanting to understand the church towers of East Anglia. Mortlock thought it one of the best in Norfolk.

The late 19th and early 20th century glass is of a high quality. A fine medieval angel in a south chancel window is un-East Anglian in style, and may have come from elsewhere. There are otherwise few medieval survivals, but there is a sense of every age, a touchstone down the generations. I liked looking up at the west window, and at the roof, and the curiously primitive early 18th century memorial to the Barton family, with an inquisitive skull and the inscription squeezed in. Best of all, I liked being here, because St James is a harmonious whole, an aesthetic delight.