Church Of St Nicholas

Church of St Nicholas

A parish church of cruciform plan, substantially rebuilt in 1706 or 1716 with later alterations, though retaining significant 13th-century fabric. The building is constructed of sandstone rubble with brick and sandstone dressings, roofed in stone slate and tile.

The church comprises a three-bay nave, two-bay chancel, north-west tower, north vestry, and south porch. The tower is 13th-century work, rising in three diminishing stages on a moulded plinth. A string course runs beneath the top stage, and beneath the eaves is a plain corbel table. The pyramidical roof is crowned with a weathercock. Clasping buttresses of weathered sandstone flank the north-west and north-east corners. Each side of the top stage is pierced with a pair of trefoil-headed openings, while the central and bottom stages have single trefoil-headed openings arranged to resemble faces.

The north elevation of the nave displays a high stone plinth beneath brickwork and stone quoins. The roof extends over the vestry in a catslide. The east side of the vestry features a pair of east-facing trefoil-headed windows. The nave is lit between vestry and north transept by a pair of similar but taller windows set beneath the nave roof, which has verges and an eastern gable cross. The north transept has a raised brick gable with three stepped lights contained within a two-centred arch.

The chancel is lit by a pair of 2-light windows with plain Y-tracery on both north and south sides. The east window matches the design of the north transept window. A moulded plinth extends to the west end of the nave. A chamfered two-centred priests' doorway on the south side stands between the two windows.

The south transept mirrors the north transept in design. The south elevation of the nave features a pair of 2-light trefoil-headed windows on either side of the south porch. The west end of the nave is lit by three stepped trefoil-headed lights beneath a segmental head, with a west door below having a chamfered two-centred arch and label with 19th-century head stops.

The south porch is sheltered beneath a deep segmental arch topped by a brick gable, upon which sits a stone sundial inscribed "Mr J W 1763". The outer arch jamb bears a plaque inscribed "This Church/Rebuilt 1706". Within the porch is a scalloped Romanesque capital adapted as a stoup. The south doorway has a round-headed chamfered arch and 19th-century ledged oak door with enriched strap hinges.

The interior is roofed with late 19th-century collar trusses supported from corbels, with curved struts rising above the collars. The chancel contains a 17th-century communion table with fluted stretchers and turned balusters, and a reredos comprising pieces of 17th-century panelling decorated with rosettes and lozenges. Early 18th-century communion rails feature a moulded rail and turned balusters. Three large 19th-century brass light fittings hang from chains. The chancel arch is 19th-century work with a two-centred head, keel-moulding, and three orders in dark brown, with water-holding bases to the shafts.

The nave contains a late 19th-century part-octagonal pulpit decorated with 17th-century guilloche designs and female terms. Behind the pulpit stands a large wooden Crucifixion, perhaps of Flemish origin. A triangular-headed doorway provides access to the vestry. The font, probably 13th-century, has an octagonal bowl with chamfered undersides and a cover dated 1894. Three tapered 13th-century coffin lids with foliated designs are set against the east wall. The south-west window retains grisaille glass of approximately 1300.

The south transept houses a late 19th-century harmonium with mahogany case and exposed galvanised pipes. The north transept displays several early to mid-19th-century wall monuments to members of the Carless and Whitney families.