The original church on this site, the first St. James', was a wattle and daub structure built in the middle of the 15th century, but whether there are any graves remaining from that time is a mystery; if there are, they are unmarked today.



The second church on this site, St Thomas', was brick-built, erected in the 18th century, but it had fallen into serious disrepair by the 1850s, and had to be pulled down and redesigned for reasons of safety. The original spire, which was perilously unstable by the end, now lives a new life as a sundial in a nearby garden!



The present church, whose dedication has been returned to St James, was built in 1871, according to a design by the famed architect George Shaw and including a spire 120 feet high, at a cost of £6421, 17s (17 shillings), 3d (three pence, or 'thruppence'). The cost of the new church was paid entirely by local philanthropist Charles Frederick Beyer, whose portrait hangs in the church as a way to honour his immense contribution to its physical survival. The modern St James' Gorton also houses, among its historical and artistic beauties, a World War I memorial stained glass window that was originally part of the now defunct church of St George's in Abbey Hey.



The attached cemetery seems mainly to have been used since the construction of the third building, and, while the couple of Commonwealth War graves present are well-tended and looked after by the descendants of their families, several of the multipartite memorials have been damaged somehow, and/or partially buried or overgrown, so that it is difficult to read all the inscriptions in many cases. Since the end of World War II, most members of the congregation who have passed away have been buried in other, active cemeteries and graveyards across the city of Manchester, the nearby Gorton Cemetery being a popular choice.