Page 17 - Bulletin 13 2009

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One, the south entrance faced the full blast of the winter weather and was often flooded
after heavy rains. It was also very draughty. Two, the whole congregation (up to 240

persons) left the church out of one single door and a three-foot wide gate. A new
entrance porch on the Main Road would lead people directly onto the pavement through

two side-doors. Three, by moving the confessional to the opposite side of the Church

the seating capacity would by increased.

Fr. Doran’s plans for what he referred to as The War Memorial Porch were approved by
Council. The builder was K. Mann of Fish Hoek, and while the building operations

were underway Fr. Doran moved the stairway to the organ loft and built a new
Baptistery. This further increased the seating capacity. The new entrance porch was

dedicated to those who had fallen in the two World Wars but, for reasons unknown, no

records have been found confirming that the porch has ever been known as such. This
work was completed in November 1949. In that year Fr. Doran also built the new choir

section for the church.

Stained-glass windows around the nave enhanced the effect of the window of the altar

which in 1924 had commemorated Fr. Duignam’s Golden Jubilee. Above the organ loft
overlooking the Main Road there are three stained-glass windows which depict St.

James the Pilgrim, St. James the Moorslayer, and the beheading of St. James.

The crucifix on the richly ornamental alter remains the focal point of the church while

the wooden pulpit, set to one side of the nave, is decorated with carved wooden figures
representing the symbols of the four evangelists St. Matthew, St. Mark, St. Luke and St.

John. The carvings were done by Salesians for Fr. Duignam in 1911. A pair of
beautifully carved heads of St. James is at the base of the moulding around the great

arch of the church.