Church Of St Nicholas

The Church of St. Nicholas is a church dating to 1880, designed by A.W. Blomfield for Albert Brassey. It likely incorporates fabric from the early 19th century. The church is built of coursed squared rock-faced limestone with ashlar dressings, and has plain-tile roofs. It comprises a chancel, a north vestry, a south organ chamber, a nave, a south aisle, and a south-west tower/porch. Designed in the Decorated-Gothic style, the chancel features a high moulded plinth and stepped angle buttresses, with a three-light traceried east window and two-light side windows. A southern projection has two traceried lancets to the east and a pair of lancets to the south, set under a traceried spherical triangle; the northern projection has a three-light square-headed window below a rose window and an angle turret. The low, lean-to south aisle has three groups of cusped lancets set in triple arcades. The north side of the nave has tall, traceried windows of one and two lights, and a four-light traceried window to the west. The four-stage tower has plinth, diagonal buttresses, a tall pierced parapet with panelled and crocketed angle pinnacles, a richly-moulded 13th-century style south doorway below a shallow gable, two-light traceried windows at the second stage, pairs of small lancets at the third stage, and large three-light traceried openings to the bell chamber. Inside the chancel, traceried blind arcading flanks the east window, the windows have moulded rere-arches, hoods, and jamb shafts. A mosaic reredos depicts the Last Supper. Elaborately moulded arches open north and south, the latter springing from head corbels. A similar chancel arch springs from tapering corbels supporting clustered shafts. A three-bay arcade of two chamfered orders has quatrefoil columns with moulded capitals, and double-shafted responds on foliage corbels. Similar corbels support detached shafts from which rise the wall posts of the arch-braced collar-truss nave roof, and also bear angels holding shields. The chancel roof has heavy cusping to the trusses. The octagonal porch has a ribbed stone vault, springing from full-height shafts with foliage bosses and capitals. Some of the lower stonework is said to have originated from the former Roman Catholic church near Heythrop Park, built in 1826 for the Earls of Shrewsbury.