Church Of St Nicholas

Church of St Nicholas is a building dating back to around 880 AD, and thought to have been a cathedral at that time. It is believed to be situated on the site of a Roman temple, incorporating Roman masonry and brickwork into its structure. The church displays architectural features from the 11th, 12th, and 16th centuries, with significant alterations undertaken between 1829 and 1830, 1875 and 1876 by Ordish & Taylor, and 1888 and 1889, followed by restoration work in 1904 and 1905 by Charles Baker. The church is constructed from coursed rubble stone and brick, with ashlar dressings and a Welsh slate roof.

The building’s plan includes a nave with aisles and a south porch. A central crossing tower has a north transept, and a chancel with a south chapel. The west front has a central four-light pointed arch window with reticulated tracery, along with a similar three-light window to the right featuring intersecting tracery. The north front features three three-light pointed arch aisle windows with intersecting tracery, and a segment-headed doorway to the left. The gabled transept has two tall round-headed windows, above which is a single similar window. The transept's east wall contains a blocked pointed arch with a single lancet window and quatrefoil. The chancel’s north wall has two blocked arches. The east front has a three-light pointed arch window with intersecting tracery to the chancel, and a similar four-light window to the left with reticulated tracery. The south front includes a 16th-century timber-framed gabled porch with 20th-century glazing, an inner doorway with a round-headed arch decorated with a zig-zag pattern. To the left is a single pointed lancet window, and to the right, three late 19th-century three-light pointed arch windows with similar tracery. A priest’s door has a four-centred arch doorway. The central crossing tower has two tiers of blind arcading on each face, with the lower arcading featuring five simple round arches, and above, single central arches containing double bell openings flanked by paired intersecting arches. The spire was removed in 1803.

Inside, the nave is of Saxon origin, displaying two round-headed windows on the north wall above a two-bay round-headed arcade. The south arcade was replaced in 1829 with a single wide brick arch. The south chancel arcade has two pointed and chamfered arches with a circular pier and attached shafts. The central tower from the late 11th century has round double arches on each side, and above them, blind arcading. The interior also features a pointed arch piscina and sedilia. There are 16th-century timber roofs. Notable fittings include an early 20th-century pulpit with an iron balustrade, an octagonal stone font with a 20th-century wooden cover, and early 20th-century wooden pews. A niche with a canopy in the north aisle was brought from Wyggeston’s Hospital (built in 1518, demolished in 1875).