Church Of St Nicholas

The Church of St. Nicholas is a parish church dating largely to the 13th century, with a substantial rebuilding in 1865 by James Fowler of Louth, undertaken in an Early English style. It is constructed of squared limestone rubble with stone-coped slate roofs and decorative ridge tiles. The church comprises a three-stage western tower, a nave with aisles, a chancel, a south porch, and a north chapel.

The tower has a plinth and a chamfered offset to the belfry, topped by a plain parapet and stepped clasping buttresses. A clock is set within a square surround on the south side, and paired 19th-century lancet windows with trefoils appear in the belfry within pointed surrounds. The top of the tower is octagonal. The west wall features a 19th-century lancet and a rectangular light in the middle stage. A projecting stair block is located at the north-east angle of the tower. The north aisle’s west window is a 19th-century design of two lights, incorporating a reused early 13th-century incised sepulchral slab depicting a sword and cross. The north wall contains three pairs of 19th-century lancets, followed by a reset 14th-century doorway with a continuous concave moulded surround. Further lancets are set in the east wall of the aisle. The chancel’s east window comprises three lancets with trefoil heads. The south wall of the chancel has a pair of lancets with cinquefoil heads above. The south aisle is illuminated by four pairs of lancets – two in the south wall and one in both east and west walls.

The gabled south porch has a moulded outer doorway with a hood and foliate stops. The inner doorway is from the early 13th century, featuring a moulded head, hood, floriate label stops, and angle shafts with annular capitals and bases.

Inside, the three-bay nave arcades are from the 13th century. The north arcade has quatrefoil piers, square abaci, and double-chamfered arches. The south arcade has similar piers but with keeled details, keeled abaci, and four-centred double-chamfered arches, likely reset in the 15th century. An octagonal respond with a human head corbel is present in the eastern wall. The tower arch is 13th-century, with octagonal corbels displaying foliate terminals and a triple-chamfered arch. The 13th-century chancel arch is double-chamfered with annular human head corbels. A 13th-century trefoil-headed piscina is found in the south aisle. A 13th-century single chamfered doorway leads from the chancel to the vestry, with a 19th-century shouldered rear arch. A 19th-century tiled reredos is also present. All fittings are from the 19th century, except for the font. The upper parts of the font are late 12th-century, enriched with thin intersecting arcades and crosses fleury, connected to a slightly battered and woodenly decorated base in the 19th century. All windows contain 19th-century stained glass.