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
Letters of Charles Dickens more intimate than any biography", and the critic Nicholas Lezard recommended it in the "Guardian" with the words, "The whole book bursts with the author’s energy, and you will love him and know him better after reading even a few of these letters." Also in 2012, a 4-hour audiobook was issued by Naxos under the title "Charles Dickens: A Portrait in Letters", the readers being David Timson and Simon Callow. One reviewer wrote that they "create myriad personalities with varying accents, tones, class distinctions, and personal idiosyncrasies that are nearly flawless". Letters of Charles Dickens The letters of Charles Dickens,