Church Of St Nicholas

Church of St Nicholas

This is a parish church of the 14th and 15th centuries, substantially altered and extended in 1860 by the architect R.C. Hussey, who worked in a 15th-century style. The building is constructed of ragstone with a plain tile roof.

The plan comprises a nave, south aisle, south porch, chancel, south chancel chapel, and north chancel chapel. In 1860, the nave and south aisle were extended westward, and a north aisle with a north-west tower were added.

The nave is probably of the 14th century and was extended in 1860. Its west end displays small blocks of evenly-coursed stone with a chamfered stone plinth and one buttress. A 19th-century four-light window and pointed-arched doorway with squared hoodmould and brattished canopy occupy this elevation.

The south aisle dates from the 14th century and was extended westward in 1860. It was refaced in 1860 with small blocks of evenly-coursed stone and a chamfered plinth, with a gabled end. Three 19th-century three-light windows light the aisle, one to the west and two flanking the porch.

The south porch is of 19th-century date, with stonework and plinth similar to the nave, carved bargeboards, and a moulded outer doorway with a plain-chamfered inner doorway.

The south chancel chapel dates from the later 14th century. Its walls are of roughly coursed stone on an undressed plinth. Two 19th-century windows light it: one blocked two-light window to the south, and one three-light window to the east in a 15th-century style.

The chancel is of the 14th century but was refaced and probably extended in the 19th century. It is buttressed diagonally to the north-east and south-east, and lit by two-light 19th-century windows to north and south. A moulded pointed-arched doorway opens to the south. A 19th-century vestry, low and at right angles to the chancel, adjoins it.

The north chancel chapel is of the 15th or early 16th century. It is built of roughly coursed galleted stone with a high moulded stone plinth and a gabled end. A 19th-century east window of three stepped lights and a similar north window light the chapel.

The north aisle dates from 1860. It has a chamfered stone plinth, a gabled end, and two three-light windows to the north.

The north-west tower, also of 1860, rises in three stages on a moulded stone plinth with moulded offsets between stages. It has clasping buttresses and a recessed stone spire. The belfry stage features two two-light windows to each face, with a small rectangular north light to the second stage and trefoil-headed lights to the north and west of the bottom stage. A pointed-arched north doorway and a west clock complete its external features. The south face abuts the nave.

Internally, the nave is spanned by a three-bay south arcade and a two-bay north arcade. The south arcade consists of doubly plain-chamfered pointed arches: the two eastern bays are of the 14th century, while the western bay is a 19th-century insertion in the 14th-century style. The columns carry scroll-moulded capitals. The north arcade is similarly of a 14th-century style. The tower protrudes into the north-west end bay.

A tall pointed-arched chancel arch of the 15th century features a continuous outer moulding and an inner moulding springing on each side from a concave-sided semi-octagonal shaft with moulded capital and base. A later 14th-century doubly plain-chamfered pointed arch separates the chancel from the south chapel, springing from attached semi-octagonal columns with moulded capitals and bases. A pointed doubly plain-chamfered arch dies into the wall between the south chapel and south aisle. Between the chancel and north chapel stands a 4-centred doubly hollow-chamfered arch of the 15th or early 16th century, with its inner order springing from attached semi-octagonal columns with moulded capitals and high moulded bases. A 19th-century arch spans between the north chapel and north aisle. A chamfered medieval rere-arch to the blocked south window of the south chapel survives.

The nave retains its medieval crown-post roof, featuring three moulded octagonal crown-posts with ribbed 19th-century boarding under the rafters. Two medieval moulded octagonal crown-posts support the south chapel. The chancel is covered by a 19th-century boarded wagon roof.

Fittings include a moulded cinquefoil-headed niche with splayed reveals on the east wall of the chancel, with a small pointed-arched plain-chamfered piscina adjacent. A traceried wooden screen with moulded, brattished cornice divides the chancel from the south chapel. An intricately-carved wooden screen beneath the chancel arch, with a vaulted wooden canopy, enriched cornice and parapet, was erected in 1949.

The church contains a distinguished series of monuments. A hanging monument on the north wall of the north aisle commemorates Sir Anthony Mayne (died 1627) and his two wives. It is executed in alabaster with a convex corniced plinth and features three-quarter-length figures between four Corinthian columns, with an entablature arched over the centre. Achievements of Sir Anthony appear under the arch, with heraldic shields above the entablatures, and a seated mourner (possibly representing the Faithful Gardener) stands above the arch.

Within the north chancel chapel, a standing monument against the north wall commemorates Sir Anthony Mayne (died 1615) and his wife, also in alabaster. It comprises a rectangular chest bearing an inscription, surmounted by kneeling figures flanked by Corinthian columns bearing an entablature with convex cornice. Achievements appear above the cornice, and vestiges of a family tree remain carved and painted on the back panel.

Also in the north chancel chapel is a Gothic monument to Galfridus Mann (died 1756), designed by Richard Bentley in 1758 and erected at the expense of Horace Walpole. It consists of a chest tomb on a plain base, with trefoils in relief and a plain central Latin inscription, surmounted by a marble urn under a crocketed arch, the soffit of which is panelled with quatrefoils.

A tablet on the north wall commemorates Eleanor Mann (died 1751). It is rectangular with a foliated base plate, an inscribed panel flanked by cupid terms, a moulded cornice with flaming urns at each end, and is surmounted by a grey marble obelisk with a white marble dragon rising from an urn.

A tablet on the south wall to Maria Isabella Mann (died 1823), signed by E.H. Baily, bears an inscription on a rectangular plinth beneath an elderly mourner seated in relief against a gadrooned urn, with a draped tapering back plate.

A white marble tablet on the south wall commemorates Julia, Countess Cornwallis (died 1847), also by Baily. It is set on a black ground and flanked by draped semi-octagonal pilasters with moulded capitals linked by a relieved arch.

A tablet on the west wall commemorates Edward Mann (died 1775), executed in white marble on a brown ground with a base-plate bearing achievements, an oval inscription panel with moulded cornice surmounted by an urn against an obelisk.

A tablet on the east wall to Charles James Mann (died 1835, aged 22) and his sister Jemima Isabella Wykeham Martin (died 1836), also by Baily, features a rectangular consoled inscription panel surmounted by a segmental-headed white marble tablet on a black marble base-plate, with two large draped urns in relief.

A free-standing white marble monument in the north-east corner, signed by Baily, depicts Charles James Mann as a young man lying upon a Grecian couch.

A free-standing marble monument in the south-west corner, also by Baily, commemorates Laura, Countess Cornwallis (died 1840), representing a woman with a book in hand, turning upon a couch.