Church Of St Nicolas

Church of St Nicolas, Great Coates

A parish church of considerable historical importance, dating from around 1200 with substantial medieval additions and later restoration work. The building was extended in the 13th century, with the aisles and chancel rebuilt in the 14th century and the tower constructed in the 14th–15th centuries. A clerestory and north aisle west window were added in the late 18th century. The church underwent major restoration in 1865 by James Fowler of Louth, with further restorations carried out between 1929 and 1932, including installation of a new east window. Roof repairs were undertaken by W and L Bond.

Materials and Construction

The tower is built in weathered ironstone ashlar with limestone dressings, and the belfry stage follows the same materials. The nave and aisles are constructed in ironstone ashlar and coursed rubble with limestone dressings, whilst the clerestory is of brick. The chancel combines ironstone ashlar, rubble, cobbles, flint and chalk, with the 20th-century rebuilt eastern section in rock-faced limestone. All sections are covered with slate roofs.

Plan and Exterior

The church follows a plan of a four-bay aisled nave with a south door, a three-bay chancel, and a west tower with a west door.

The chancel features diagonal buttresses. It has a pointed double-chamfered south doorway and pairs of restored pointed two-light north and south windows with simple Curvilinear tracery. The central eastern section was rebuilt in the 20th century and contains a pointed three-light window with reticulated tracery, with wrought-iron letters "R S" positioned above, honouring Robert Sutton, patron of 19th-century restorations.

The north aisle has angle buttresses and a pointed north door with two filleted orders and a hoodmould with headstops. A pair of partly restored triangular-headed three-light windows with trefoiled lights and hoodmoulds adorns this elevation. At the east end stands a 14th-century pointed three-light window with reticulated tracery, filleted mullions and reveal. A 19th-century pointed single-light west window completes the elevation.

The south aisle has a chamfered plinth and angle buttresses. Its pointed south doorway is double-chamfered with a restored hoodmould. Three square-headed two-light traceried windows with hoodmoulds punctuate the wall, and a pointed two-light east window with reticulated tracery, filleted mullions and reveal is positioned at the end. The clerestory on the south side contains a pair of blocked openings with indications of straight joints.

The tower comprises two main stages. It has a moulded plinth and angle buttresses with set-offs. A Tudor-arched west door with hoodmould and headstops opens onto a panelled door. Above this runs a frieze containing a central cruciform niche flanked by quatrefoil panels with shields. A pointed three-light west window with Perpendicular tracery and continuous hoodmould is positioned higher, with a small square-headed two-light west window above. The upper stage is stepped inward and contains twin pointed two-light belfry openings with Perpendicular tracery, deep hollow-chamfered reveals and linked hoodmould. A string course with a central gargoyle to each side runs beneath the embattled parapet, which is decorated with eight crocketed finials on panelled shafts. An eastward-facing clockface, dated 1806, by Thwaites of Clerkenwell, is mounted on the tower; it was originally from Willingham Hall, Lincolnshire.

Interior

The chancel contains a pointed trefoiled piscina, a pair of 19th-century corbels marking the position of a former rood screen, and a 19th-century reredos.

The nave has four-bay arcades. The three eastern bays date to around 1200, while the narrower western bay is from the later 13th century. The north arcade consists of three round arches and a pointed west arch, all of two plain orders. The south arcade has slightly pointed, slightly chamfered arches. Both arcades feature quatrefoiled east piers and responds with plain-moulded round bases and capitals; the west piers and responds have keeled foils, quatrefoiled abaci, circular seats and bases. A 14th-century ogee-headed piscina in the south aisle contains a mutilated bowl. The nave roof was rebuilt in the 19th and 20th centuries, possibly reusing some original tie beams and carved bosses. A tall pointed double-chamfered tower arch with plain-moulded capitals and chamfered base separates the nave from the tower; above is an organ loft with a 19th-century railed gallery, and a chamfered four-centred doorway provides access to the tower stairs. A 14th–15th-century octagonal font with cusped panels and shields stands in the nave. Fragments of medieval stained glass bearing coats of arms survive in the chancel north window and north aisle east window. A 19th-century pulpit is also present.

Monuments and Brasses

Two notable brasses are inlaid in the chancel floor. One dates to 1420 and commemorates Lady Isabella, wife of Roger Barnardiston, depicted with a dog at her feet, with a Gothic inscription and recesses for shields. The second brass, dating to around 1503, displays a figure of Christ rising from the tomb with sleeping soldiers alongside, flanked by figures of Sir Thomas Barnardiston and his wife Elizabeth, with eight sons and seven daughters represented. The brass features Latin inscription scrolls issuing from the mouths of the principal figures and is bordered by faces and paterae with an inscription referring to the Barnardistons of "Mikkyl cotes".