Church Of St Nicholas

The Church of St Nicholas is a parish church, largely dating to the early 13th century, with extensive external rebuilding in the 19th century by W. Fellows Prynne. The building is primarily constructed of flint with stone dressings, and has a tile roof. It comprises a chancel, north and south chapels, a nave with aisles, a south porch, and a west tower.

The tower, of 1612, is built of brick with three stages, defined by moulded stone strings. It has a battlemented parapet and a central cupola with an ogee roof, topped by a wrought iron weather vane. The chancel was restored and refurbished in 1903; the roof is original, restored, and supports four panels of carved wood tracery above the rood screen. The nave was restored in 1876 and features a three-bay transitional north arcade. The central pier consists of two diameters – the lower and larger has a scalloped top, and the upper a plain cap; the other piers have scalloped caps. The nave roof has collar purlins, arch braces, and moulded crown posts. The roofs of both aisles are similar and have been restored. The north aisle contains three Early English lancet windows set in rebuilt walling. The south aisle is largely from the 19th century. A 17th-century carved screen, incorporating the arms of James I, spans the chancel opening and the aisles. An early 17th-century pulpit adjoins a wrought iron hour glass holder dated 1636. The font is late Decorated, with an octagonal bowl featuring ogee tracery, small corner shafts supporting angels, and standing on two stone steps above a clustered shafted base.

Significant monuments are located throughout the church. On the north wall of the chancel is an elaborate wall monument to Henry Barker of Hurst, who died in 1651. The south wall of the chancel displays a large marble oval panel to Robert Palmer, who died in 1757. The north wall of the north chapel holds a tall panelled plinth monument to Lady Margaret Savile, who died in 1631 and was the widow of Sir Henry Savile, Provost of Eton, and founder of the Savilian professorships at Oxford. A brass commemorates Alice, who died in 1600, daughter of Richard Ward and wife to Thomas Harrison, while another brass records Richard Kippax, who died in 1625 and was once an examiner in the Star Chamber. The south wall of the north chapel displays a large wall monument to Sir Richard and Lady Harrison, dated 1683. The chapel altar is flanked by good 17th and 18th-century tablets and cartouches. Six 17th-century tombstones are set into the floor, and at the west end of the north aisle is an altar tomb with a black marble top, commemorating Richard Bigg of Haineshill, who died in 1677.