Church Of St Nicholas

Church of St Nicholas

A parish church of complex development spanning from the 12th century to the early 16th century, with significant 19th-century restoration. The building comprises a chancel, south chancel chapel with a two-bay arcade to the chancel, nave, north transept, three and a half bay south aisle, west tower, and south-west porch. It is constructed of stone rubble with granite and freestone dressings, with slate roofs.

The bottom stage of the tower probably dates to the 12th century, whilst parts of the nave and chancel belong to the 13th century. The north transept may date to the 14th century, and the south chancel chapel to the late 13th or 14th century. The south aisle and south porch are late 15th or early 16th-century additions. The church underwent major restoration in 1871 and was entirely re-roofed in 1966.

The development of the church is complex. The base of the tower appears to be 12th-century but is not aligned with the 13th-century chancel arch, suggesting the church may have been rebuilt and re-aligned in the 13th century with a retained 12th-century west tower and new 13th-century nave and chancel. The masonry of the north transept differs from the nave masonry and may represent a 14th-century addition. The south chancel chapel certainly predates the south aisle and may have been a 14th-century chantry. In the 15th or early 16th century, the two-bay arcade between the chancel and south chancel chapel was constructed, probably contemporary with the south aisle, which increased the width of the nave and required its re-roofing. The upper stages of the west tower also likely date from the Perpendicular period. The windows in the east wall were replaced in the 19th century, probably during the 1871 restoration.

The east wall of the south chancel chapel is flush with the chancel east wall, separated by a single 19th-century buttress with set-offs. The east gables are coped with kneelers and appear to have been rebuilt; the plinth suggests the entire east wall may have been reconstructed. The chancel has a 19th-century Perpendicular east window of four lights with Y tracery, king mullion, hoodmould and label stops. There are no windows to the north wall of the chancel. The south chancel chapel has a 19th-century freestone Perpendicular three-light east window with hoodmould and label stops. Its south window is a circa late 15th or early 16th-century three-light square-headed cusped window with a hoodmould. The north window is probably late 14th-century Perpendicular with a hoodmould and label stops. There are no windows to the west wall of the chapel.

The nave is constructed of small-dimensioned masonry. The ground appears to have been cut away at the base of the walls, leaving a blocked chamfered arched doorway in the centre, considerably raised above ground level. On either side of the doorway are circa late 13th-century triple lancets with chamfered lights; the westernmost appears original, whilst the mullions of the easternmost have been renewed. The west window of the south aisle is a three-light granite Perpendicular window, lightly cusped, with a hoodmould and label stops. The porch occupies the westernmost bay of the aisle. The three easternmost windows of the aisle are probably early 16th-century, consisting of wide four-light uncusped granite windows with panel tracery, hoodmoulds and carved label stops. Original external saddle bars and stanchions remain intact.

The two-stage unbuttressed battlemented west tower has square corner pinnacles with crocketted finials. A projecting rectangular north-east stair turret rises above the tower battlementing and is itself battlemented with square corner pinnacles with crocketted finials. The west face has a simple hollow-chamfered arched west door with a hoodmould below a relieving arch. Above the door is a round-headed chamfered window, probably 12th-century, below a relieving arch. Belfry openings on all four faces are two-light uncusped openings with square heads. The south face has a chamfered round-headed one-light opening at bell-ringers' stage filled with slate pierced with slits. The stone rubble south porch is faced with granite ashlar on the south side and has a coped gable. The shallow-moulded arched outer doorway has a square-headed hoodmould and label stops with carved spandrels. The interior of the porch contains slate-topped benches and a Perpendicular waggon roof with carved ribs, bosses and wallplates. The inner door of the porch is moulded with a Tudor arch and carved spandrels, and is circa 16th-century with studs and strap hinges.

Interior

The nave walls are unplastered; the east end walls are plastered. The 13th-century chancel arch is unmoulded, springing from plain granite imposts with remains of stylized carving. The tower arch is unmoulded and springs from chamfered imposts. A depressed moulded granite arch opens to the south chancel chapel. The south arcade comprises three and a half bays, with the easternmost arch abutting the centre of the south chancel arch and apparently acting as a keystone. The arcade piers have four hollows and four shafts with moulded capitals to the shafts only. The piers have moulded bases and the arches are shallow-moulded. The two-bay arcade between the chancel and south chancel chapel is similar but not identical. The west window of the tower is deeply splayed, as are the two north windows of the nave. The roofs are late 20th-century ceiled waggons with ribs and carved bosses; a Perpendicular carved wallplate survives in the south chancel chapel.

A good 13th-century octagonal font has palmettes carved on four faces, whilst the other faces are either plain or cut with a vertical hollow, probably made when the font was fixed to a wall. The bowl stands on an octagonal base.

A six-bay chancel screen, said to date to 1529, is of Pevsner A type. The screen has lost its coving and two orders of carving from the bressumer have been tacked to the top. A frieze of quatrefoils runs at the base of the wainscot, and the entire screen has been painted brown and green, probably in the late 18th or early 19th century. The three bays of the screen across the arch into the south chancel chapel are also Pevsner A type, but the openings are wider with almost segmental heads. On the north side of the nave and in the south aisle, several complete early 16th-century benches survive with rectangular carved ends, some bearing Renaissance arabesques and others decorated with symbols of the Passion. The original footings of bench sets survive in part, as do the moulded back rails. Remaining benches in the nave are 19th-century with panelled ends. Some 16th-century bench ends have been incorporated into the choir stalls.

A five-sided timber drum pulpit dates to 1901 and was carved by John Northcott of Ashwater. It has a deep cornice, carved sides and a moulded granite base. A late 19th-century timber reredos is present. A whitewashed stone effigy, circa 1500 (according to Pevsner), lies on a tomb chest under an arch at the east of the south chancel chapel. The arch is not part of the original design of the tomb. The figure is a knight in armour shown as a head and torso only, with the legs missing. The torso is hollowed out. The chest has a frieze of nodding ogee canopies with mourners in ecclesiastical dress beneath. The Royal Arms of 1822, painted by Richard Reddicliffe, are fixed to the north wall of the nave. A late 19th-century window in the south aisle is probably by Lavers Barraud and Westlake.

The south chancel chapel is said to have been the Upcott chapel.