Church of St Nicholas

The Church of St Nicholas is an Anglican church built in 1877. It is constructed of coursed rubble with stone dressings, and has a roof of handmade red clay tiles. The building comprises a chancel and nave in one rectangular block, aligned approximately north-east to south-west, with a timber porch on the north-west side and a vestry with a lean-to roof on the south-east side.

The north-east wall has a two-centred window with three trefoiled lights and quatrefoils above, and diagonal buttresses, alongside a foundation stone inscribed ‘AM 1877’. The north-west wall features a two-centred arched doorway and a window with two trefoiled lights and a quatrefoil above. A smaller, similar window is located in the south-east wall, north of the vestry. The south-west wall has a window with four trefoiled lights and two-centred tracery above, three buttresses, and a bellcote (a small bell tower). An 18th-century boundary wall of Loughton Hall abuts the south-west end of the church, indicating that the church’s orientation was adjusted to incorporate the existing wall, with the south-west end of the church situated within the private grounds of Loughton Hall. An inscription at the north-east end states that the church was erected by Anne Maitland.

Several features are retained from a former church that stood east of the current building. These include four brass memorial plates in the chancel: one depicting Abel Guilliams (died 1637) with his wife and children, although the inscription and shield are lost; one depicting William Nodes (died 1594) and his wife Elizabeth, showing the man and eight sons but lacking the figures of the wife and daughters; one depicting George Stonard (died 1558) in armour with his wife, with the inscription now lost; and one depicting John Stonnard (died 1541) with his two wives.

A cupboard is located in the north wall of the chancel, featuring elaborately carved double doors, flanked by columns and strapwork, and surmounted by an entablature. A painting of the Annunciation, dating to the late 16th century, is on the panel below the doors. Early 16th-century glass depicting two kneeling figures with coloured nimbi is found in the north and south windows.