Parish Church Of St Nicholas

The parish church of St Nicholas in Nether Compton village dates to the 13th century, with significant additions and alterations in the 15th century. A restoration took place in 1885, when the north chapel was extended to create an organ chamber and vestry. The church is constructed of rubble stone walls faced with freestone dressings, and has clay-tile roofs. The chancel has 19th-century diagonal and square buttresses, and an east window of 1885, comprising two trefoiled lights in a four-centred head. A 13th-century lancet window is now situated within the vestry on the north wall. The south wall contains a 15th-century window of two cinquefoiled lights in a square head. The 15th-century doorway has chamfered jambs and a two-centred head. The nave's south wall features two 15th-century windows of three cinquefoiled lights in square heads, together with a 19th-century central window. The 13th-century south porch has a two-centred outer archway of two chamfered orders; the outer order is continuous, and the inner order springs from corbel shafts with moulded capitals and fluted bases. The 15th-century west tower comprises three stages, with a moulded plinth, embattled parapet, angle pinnacles, gargoyles, and an embattled turret at the north-east angle. The west doorway is framed by moulded jambs and a segmental-pointed arch in a square head, with trefoiled spandrels and a moulded label with returned stops. A 15th-century west window comprises three cinquefoiled lights in a two-centred head. Bell-chamber windows are set within moulded reveals and a label, with a quatrefoil in a two-centred head. The north chapel contains a 15th-century west bay and a 19th-century extension constructed partly from reused material. The vestry’s east wall contains a reset 15th-century window similar to that in the chancel’s south wall. The chapel’s north wall has two 15th-century windows and the west wall has one. The chancel arch is 19th-century. The nave’s roof is of the 15th century and is barrel-form with moulded ribs, producing eight bays of four panels. Carved bosses are at the intersections. Wall-plates are embattled and brattished, and have carved heads under alternate ribs. There are consecration crosses on the chancel and external walls. The font has an octagonal bowl with a moulded under edge, an octagonal to square stem, and a chamfered base, dating to the 14th century. A 15th-century stone screen, comprising five bays including a doorway, is placed under the chancel arch, and is finished with a moulded cornice. The pews are largely 17th-century, with some 19th-century additions.