Church Of St Nicholas

The Church of St Nicholas is a parish church dating back to the 12th century, with significant additions in the 14th century. It was reordered in 1721, as indicated by a datestone above the south door, and extensively restored with a rebuilt chancel in 1870. The church is constructed primarily of coursed red sandstone, with grey slate roofs featuring stone coped gables and sandstone ridges.

The building comprises a continuous nave and chancel, a north aisle, a north chapel, a north vestry, and a west tower. The four-stage west tower has nail-studded oak doors with semicircular heads, keystones, and ogee architraves, on its south and west sides. The lower stage of the tower is inscribed with the names of trustees, the mason, the carpenter, and the date of the remodelling. A semicircular-headed window with imposts, a keystone, and leaded glazing sits above the south door. A hand clock dial is located above this window, and the bell chamber openings are louvred with Y-traceried heads. The tower features a moulded cornice and solid parapet. The east end has twin gables with two-stage buttresses diagonally at each outer angle. The north chapel window dates from 1380, and both east windows have 3-light windows with intersecting tracery. The north and south walls incorporate simple round-headed lights, recessed within slightly projecting semicircular arches, pilasters, and sills. A simple eaves cornice and coped parapet complete the exterior. A multi-stepped buttress separates the nave from the chancel on the south side. Paired lancet windows with quatrefoils above are found in the chancel south windows. The north vestry has two trefoil-headed lancets in its gable end. Stone crosses top the gable ends of the chancel and vestry.

Inside, a five-bay north arcade is supported by Tuscan columns with keystones to the arches. The church contains a five-panel oak altar without a reredos, fronted by a Jacobean-style communion rail with alternating twisted and turned balusters. There are also choir stalls with trefoil and quatrefoil motifs fronted by an oak rail with trefoil tracery, including an earlier pulpit. The Massey Chapel to the north has a plain altar table with a simple rail and oak verticals. A pine door with strap hinges and a shouldered arch leads to the vestry. Pine pews feature spade and fleur-de-lys pew ends. Stained glass by Kempe is present in the chancel east window. Wood commandment boards from 1700 are displayed above the tower arch, accompanied by war memorials. Various memorials are also located within the church, including a marble memorial dating to 1579, an alabaster memorial from 1794, and a Congreve hatchment from 1820. A ring of five bells dates from 1724. The nave and chancel roofs have bracketed collar trusses with cusped wind braces, exposed purlins, ridge trees, stop-chamfered spine beams with run-out stops, and rafters seated on wooden and stone corbels.