St James' Church, Cooling was restored in the 19th century, when a vestry was added, and the porch was rebuilt. It was declared redundant on 19 November 1976 and vested in the Churches Conservation Trust on 31 May 1978. It is now cared for by a group known as the Friends of St James' Church. The church is open daily to visitors. The churchyard provided the inspiration for the opening chapter of Charles Dickens' book "Great Expectations", in which the hero of the story, Pip, meets the convict, Magwitch. In 2005 the musician Jools Holland married the sculptor Christabel McEwan in the church. St
Charles Dickens Jr. London. His publications include: He also wrote the introductions to many posthumous reprints of his father's books, such as "Barnaby Rudge", "Oliver Twist", "Bleak House", and "Little Dorrit", providing biographical and bibliographical insights. His "Reminiscences of My Father" was published posthumously in 1934. "Dickens's Dictionary of London: An Unconventional Handbook" is the main book of Charles Dickens Jr. It was first published in London in 1879, by "Charles Dickens and Evans" (Dickens Jr. and his father-in-law, publisher Frederick Evans). The book was then updated and reprinted every year until the author's death, from 1880 (second year) to the final 1896–1897