Church of St Nicholas is a Grade I listed building in the Bedford local planning authority area, England. First listed on 13 July 1964. A C14 Church.
Church of St Nicholas
- WRENN ID
- final-gable-willow
- Grade
- I
- Local Planning Authority
- Bedford
- Constituency
- North Bedfordshire MP: Richard Fuller (Con)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 13 July 1964
- Type
- Church
- Address
- Church of St Nicholas, High Street, Swineshead
- OS grid reference
- TL 057 658
- Coordinates
- 52.2806, -0.45077
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The Church of St Nicholas is a parish church primarily dating from the 14th century, with some additions from the 15th century. It is constructed from coursed limestone rubble with ashlar dressings and features a tiled roof over the chancel. The church comprises a west tower, nave, north and south aisles, a north vestry, a south porch, and a chancel.
The four-stage tower is topped with a stone spire that includes lucarnes and a pierced quatrefoiled parapet, along with weathered gargoyles at the corners. The west doorway is framed by a porch with an embattled gable, flanking pinnacles, and a small trefoiled niche. The north aisle contains three square-headed windows, while the south aisle features a 15th-century square-headed west window and a piscina in the jamb of the southeast window. The 15th-century two-storey vestry has single lights on its east wall, and there is a 14th-century piscina in the lower room.
Inside, the nave has three-bay arcades, and the clerestory from the 15th century includes four windows on each side. The chancel retains one 14th-century window, with the others being reworked in the 19th century but styled similarly, all featuring 14th-century figured stops. The aisles and chancel have plain parapets, and the south elevation displays a frieze of ball flowers and heads. The clerestory is embattled, and traces of painting on the east wall of the south aisle depict two angels flanking a canopied niche. There is a tomb recess in the chancel with an inscribed slab in front, and a 14th-century octagonal font is located in the nave. The west door from the 14th century features blank tracery at the head.
Local climate
Church of St Nicholas sits in one of the driest parts of the UK, with an average of 690 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 96% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 91% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 34 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 52% of listed buildings. Of these, 16 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
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- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
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