Church Of St Nicholas

The Church of St Nicholas is an Anglican parish church, now redundant, situated in Wylye Fisherton de la Mere. It demonstrates a complex history of construction, beginning in the early 12th century and continuing through the 13th, 15th, and 19th centuries. Further restorations occurred in 1833, 1861 by W. Hardwick, and 1912. The church is primarily constructed from chequered limestone and flint, with a tiled roof featuring ornamental tiles on the chancel roof and Welsh slates on the nave roof.

The building consists of a nave, a north transept, a chancel with a north vestry, and a south tower rising over the entrance. The tower features a double-chamfered archway at its base, diagonal buttresses, a moulded niche above the doorway, and a blocked square chamfered window with a cast-iron plaque commemorating the 1833 rebuilding by John Davis. The bellstage has two-light louvred pointed windows on all sides, topped by a battlemented parapet with crocketed corner pinnacles. Fragments of 12th-century chevron detail from an archway are visible on the nave wall, alongside two restored 14th-century two-light pointed windows and buttresses with offsets. The chancel showcases 19th-century roll-moulded string courses and three restored lancets. The north vestry has chamfered and cusped lancets, while the north transept features a 19th-century Perpendicular-style window. The west end has a chamfered pointed doorway and a 19th-century three-light Perpendicular-style window, with diagonal buttresses.

Inside, a plain chamfered doorway leads to panelled doors with 19th-century panelling. The nave has a plastered ceiling and a gallery at the west end, accessed by stairs. A screen and rood loft, designed by F.C. Eden in 1912, are crafted in a finely carved Perpendicular style with open traceried panels and solid newel stairs. The 13th-century chancel arch is double-chamfered, featuring broach stops and 12th-century paired half-shaft responds with carved capitals resembling drapery. The chancel also has a panelled wagon roof and original 13th-century rere-arches, restored on the south side. Further interior features include a Minton tiled reredos, a plain pointed piscina on the south wall, brass candelabra, 1912 pews, a 17th-century freestanding octagonal pulpit with strapwork frieze (originally from East Anglia), a 12th-century limestone cylindrical font, and the Royal Arms of George III over the south door. The church also contains 1830s grisaille-style glass. Notable monuments include a 1624 Crockford tablet with bas-relief carvings, 19th-century marble tablets by Osmond of Sarum to the Davis family and by King of Bath to John Davis (died 1791), and an elaborate 19th-century prayer board. The church is now in the care of the Redundant Churches Fund.