Church Of St Nicholas

The Church of St Nicholas is a parish church largely dating to the early 16th century, with a tower bearing the date 1536. The chancel was rebuilt in the early 19th century. The north aisle is constructed of sandstone rubble, the south aisle of coursed sandstone and limestone rubble, with some rendering. The tower and porch are of limestone ashlar, while the chancel is of scored, imitation ashlar, rendered brick. The roofs are covered in concrete tiles, with coped parapets.

The church comprises an aisled nave, chancel, west tower, and north and south porches. It is built in the Perpendicular style, with 3-light windows throughout. The chancel features an ashlar plinth and moulded cornice, along with diagonal buttresses. The east window is of Perpendicular design, incorporating a hood mould with head stops. A sill course runs around the windowless north and south sides.

The porch between the second and third bays of the nave has a moulded round arch with a hood mould and lozenge stops. A 19th-century traceried panelled door is set within a simple chamfered surround. The windows, some restored, have hood moulds. The tower has three stages and features moulded plinth, buttresses of varying offsets, and a canted north-east stair turret. The west window has ornate lozenge stops, cusped intersecting tracery, and a hood mould. The second stage is blank to the west, but incorporates a trefoiled lancet to the south. The third stage has two-light, louvred bell openings with curvilinear tracery and a continued hood mould, capped by a moulded cornice and embattled parapet with panelled corners.

Inside, the chancel has a cusped Perpendicular style roof. The chancel arch and three-bay arcades have moulded, lozenge-shaped piers and responds with 4-centred arches. The tower arch features half-round shafts and half-octagon capitals, along with two outer continuous moulded orders. The nave and aisles have plastered ceilings, while the south aisle walls contain shallow chamfered 4-centred plaster arches.

Notable fittings include an Early English carved cauldron font, a 17th-century carved oak octagonal pulpit, a reading desk likely constructed from the former pulpit door, an early 19th-century decorated Gothic style altar table, a simple Gothic reredos, mid-19th century altar rails, stalls and pews, and a painted coat of arms of George III on the north aisle’s west wall. Wall monuments are also present, including those commemorating George Watson (1674) and Henry Clerke (1687), the latter featuring a segmental pediment, moulded panel and Ionic pilasters along with consoles, swags and a coat of arms.