Church Of St Nicholas

OAKLEY OAKLEY CHURCH LANE TM 17 NE 2/142 Church of St. Nicholas 29.7.55 II* Parish church. Medieval, restored 1876-8. Nave, chancel, west tower, south porch, north vestry. Flint rubble, the north walls of nave and chancel cement-rendered; stone dressings. Slated roofs. C14 tower with diagonal and angle buttresses; string courses below belfry stage and parapet, the latter with gargoyles at the angles. Crenellated parapet with flushwork panelling. Restored 2-light west window; 2-light belfry openings. 2-bay C14 nave with good C15 windows of 3 lights. Moulded C14 south doorway with stoup adjacent. North doorway, probably of C15 date, now blocked. Good C15 porch of knapped flint, with flushwork panelling to the facade and plinth. Entrance arch enriched with fleurons and crowns; spandrels carved with shields of arms within circles. Above is a row of quatrefoils and to each side canopied niches. Paired 2-light parvis windows with central canopied niche between and sundial above. Crenellated parapet. The side windows of the porch have re- set fragments of medieval glass. C15 chancel with 3-light side windows and 4- light east window, all much restored. Interior. C14 or C15 nave roof with arch-braced tie beams and principal rafters; main components all moulded, with fleuron bosses at the intersections. Rafters concealed by C19 boarding. Chancel roof renewed c.1860. In north wall of nave are the rood stairs and 2 canopied image niches of C15 date. East bay of nave is slightly recessed; to the south is a piscina and drop-sill sedilia. Trefoil-arched angle piscina in chancel. Plain octagonal font on round stem against north nave wall. 4 C15 poppyhead benches at west end of nave. Other furnishings are C19, including, a tile and mosaic reredos of 1882. In the chancel is a plain marble and alabaster tomb chest for Sir William Cornwallis (1611).

Listing NGR: TM1571977366