Church of St Nicholas is a Grade I listed building in the South Norfolk local planning authority area, England. First listed on 26 November 1959. A Medieval Church.

Church of St Nicholas

WRENN ID
first-lintel-tarn
Grade
I
Local Planning Authority
South Norfolk
Constituency
South Norfolk MP: Ben Goldsborough (Lab)
Country
England
Date first listed
26 November 1959
Type
Church
Period
Medieval
Address
Church of St Nicholas, School Road, Bracon Ash
OS grid reference
TG 179 001
Coordinates
52.55594, 1.21368
Source
Historic England listing

Also on this page: flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

The Church of St Nicholas is a parish church that dates from the medieval period and later. It is constructed of rendered flint with ashlar dressings and has plain tiled roofs. The church features a nave with a south aisle, a north porch, and a chancel that includes a mausoleum on the north side.

Notable architectural elements include two fine 14th-century two-light Decorated windows in the south aisle, which have mouchette and dagger-filled vesicas, and two two-light Y-traceried windows on the north side of the nave. The chancel has five Y-traceried windows with carved label stops, while the tracery of the three-light east window is modern. The easternmost three-light south window is made of timber but retains its original reveals.

The Berney family mausoleum, dating from around 1750, is made of ashlar and features an oculus on each face (blind to the east and west) with four raised keystones. The northern oculus is set within a pedimented aedicule with rusticated pilasters, and the mausoleum also has rusticated quoins, a moulded cornice, and a parapet.

The church includes a 15th-century south arcade with three bays, faceted quatrefoil piers, and hollow chamfered arches. There is a surviving rood stair to the north and a 14th or 15th-century chancel arch with polygonal responds. The late 13th-century chancel has eight splayed Y-traceried side windows, some of which are blocked but still visible internally, featuring shafted divisions and continuous deeply carved hood-moulds with label stops.

Additionally, there are remains of an important early Renaissance terra-cotta canopied tomb from around 1525 located in the chancel. This tomb has four bays divided by pendant capitals, recessed panels with Renaissance decoration, and candelabra pilasters, though the chest has been destroyed and the canopy is blocked.

Local climate

Church of St Nicholas sits in a drier-than-average part of the UK, with an average of 710 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 85% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 95% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 27 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 71% of listed buildings. Of these, 14 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.

More on this building

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