Description: St James the great Parish Church at Brinsley is a plain Gothic building of Mansfield stone, consisting of a nave with a saddle back roof and two small turrets (the one nearest the porch containing a chimney or flue and the other a single bell). Inside the church there is accommodation for over 400 people with 260 seats. A carved stone in the bell turret dates the original church at 1838. The church was built at a cost of £1290, the Duke of Newcastle giving £100, the land and the stone, £200 came from the Church Building Society and £100 from colliery owners Barber and Walker. Further amounts of £50 were received from local squire, Col. Rolleston, Mr R C Rolleston and from Mr. Joseph Cooper Gething - a corn miller, farmer and keeper of the Jolly Collier tavern. It was through the unstinting efforts of Mr. Gething that the principal part of the subscriptions were collected. In the 1870s it was decided that the Church was too small for current needs as it was intended originally as a Chapel of Ease. Plans were drawn up for enlarging the building. Finance was put in place and, in 1878, the Church was enlarged at a cost of £1,236. The chancel and an organ chamber was added, the windows renewed and the interior re-seated. Seen from the west in this view. D H Lawrence's father was born at Brinsley and worked at Brinsley Colliery.