Church Of St Nicholas

The Church of St Nicholas is a parish church dating back to the 12th century, with additions from the 13th and 14th centuries, and a mid-19th century restoration. It is constructed primarily of sandstone, with a slate roof to the nave, concrete tiles to the chancel, and stone slates to the porch.

The church comprises a 13th-century west tower, a four-bay 12th-century nave, a three-bay 13th-century chancel, a large 14th-century south transept, a late 19th-century south vestry, and a rebuilt 14th-century north porch. The west tower has two stages, a string course above the nave ridge, angle buttresses on the west face, a corbelled parapet, a lancet west window, and lancets on each face of the second stage. A lancet window is situated between the chancel and the south transept. The north wall features two single-light windows; the eastern one, likely 13th or 14th century, features a triangular head, while the western one, possibly 12th century, has a segmental head. The chancel has 13th and 14th-century lancets, with a pair of trefoil-headed lancets forming the east window, probably late 14th century. A blocked 13th-century priests' door has a sundial incised on its east jamb, located between two lancets on the south side. The south transept has a large 14th-century south window of two lights with trefoiled heads, and above it are two corbel heads beneath a stone ledge. The north porch, perhaps 14th or 15th century and heavily restored, features trusses with two sets of moulded arch braces supporting two tie-beams, moulded to match at their junctions. A square-headed, chamfered doorway, likely 14th century, provides entrance from the north.

The interior is characterized by a 14th-century arcade separating the nave from the south transept, consisting of one octagonal column supporting two 2-centred arches springing from ground level on both the north and south sides. There is also a 13th-century 2-centred chamfered chancel arch and a tower arch. The nave roofs are ceiled in a barrel form, with curved braces on the wind-braces. The south transept roof displays four 17th-century moulded brackets, currently supporting nothing. A wagon roof, likely mid-19th century, covers the chancel. A semi-circular cut-out has been made in the sill of the south-east window to create a high shelf, also likely mid-19th century. A restored 15th or 16th-century screen features linenfold panels at the bottom, open ogee heads, and tracery in three bays on either side of the entrance. A 17th-century communion table displays turned Doric column legs and carved top rails. Three 14th-century piscinas are present, two with trefoiled heads and ball-flower enrichments, foiled drains; one is located in the splay of the south-east window of the chancel, another in the south-east corner of the nave, and the third, without ball-flowers, is in the south wall of the south transept. Adjoining the wall is a large corbel with cavetto mouldings, perhaps from the 16th century. An early 17th-century oak hexagonal pulpit and reading desk have panelled sides. A small, late 17th-century communion table, located to the west of the chancel screen, has bobbin-baluster legs. The font has a 12th-century round bowl and a mid-19th-century stem and base.