Church of St Nicholas is a Grade II* listed building in the South Oxfordshire local planning authority area, England. First listed on 9 February 1959. A Early Medieval Church.
Church of St Nicholas
- WRENN ID
- scattered-threshold-juniper
- Grade
- II*
- Local Planning Authority
- South Oxfordshire
- Constituency
- Henley and Thame MP: Freddie van Mierlo (LD)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 9 February 1959
- Type
- Church
- Period
- Early Medieval
- Address
- Church of St Nicholas, Rotherfield Greys
- OS grid reference
- SU 726 823
- Coordinates
- 51.53509, -0.95398
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The Church of St Nicholas is a Grade II* listed building located in Rotherfield Greys. It features Romanesque architecture with an early 17th century chapel and underwent restoration in 1865 by W. Woodman. The church has a red brick base and is constructed of flint with stone dressing, with some parts rendered, and a plain tile roof. It consists of a 4-bay nave and a 2-bay chancel, with the Knollys chapel situated to the north.
The entrance includes a 19th century studded door positioned to the right of the center, leading into a gabled flint porch with a tiled roof. Inside, there are reset medieval tiles on the floor, and a blocked Romanesque doorway to the left. The nave features a 19th century paired lancet window at the center and a single lancet window to the right. The Knollys chapel projects forward on the left side and has a polygonal end with a central 3-light plate tracery window flanked by buttresses and topped with a cross-gable. There are also 2-light plate tracery windows on the left and right returns. The west end of the church has a lancet window with a quatrefoil window above, flanked by stopped buttresses. The south side showcases 19th century lancet windows, except for a square window at the center of the nave.
A bell tower rises from the ridge, featuring a tile-hung base, a timber-frame chamber, and a tiled spire. Inside, there is a 12th century font that is square with recessed shafts and water-leaf and stiff-leaf capitals at the corners. A brass commemorates Lord Robert de Grey, dating from around 1387, located in front of the altar. In the Knollys chapel, there is a monument made of painted alabaster and marble, displaying recumbent effigies of Sir Frances and Lady Knollys with kneeling figures of children at their sides. Above the effigies is a canopy featuring Lord William and Lady Knollys before a prayer desk. The chapel also contains 17th century stained glass heraldic shields.
The Knollys chapel was added by William Knollys, the first Earl of Banbury and owner of Greys Court, in 1605. Lord Robert de Grey was an earlier owner of Greys Court.
Local climate
Church of St Nicholas sits in a drier-than-average part of the UK, with an average of 730 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 80% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 73% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 34 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 53% 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.
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