Church Of St Nicholas

Church of St Nicholas

Parish church with a complex building history spanning the 13th to 19th centuries. The structure comprises a nave with north and south aisles, a southwest tower, a south porch, and a chancel with north and south chapels. The original 13th-century church was extended with a south aisle in the 15th century and a north aisle in the 19th century. The building was restored in 1840, possibly by D.J. Niblett of Haresfield, and underwent further restoration in 1878 by Waller and Son. It is constructed of limestone ashlar with a stone slate roof.

The principal entrance is a 13th-century moulded pointed arch on the south side, flanked by attached jamb columns with stiff-leaf capitals and stiff-leaf terminals to the hood, with a studded plank door featuring cover strips. The south porch is parapet-gabled with trefoil-headed side lancets, internal stone seats, and a wagon roof.

The south aisle is a restored 19th-century work with an east offset buttress and 2-light lancets. The south chapel contains a 19th-century restored moulded Tudor-arched priest's doorway with hood and plank door, and a 3-light square-headed late 14th-century window with ogee-headed lights. The north aisle, added in the 19th century, has a pointed-arched doorway and three 2-light lancets in buttressed walls; the north chapel similarly exhibits matching fenestration.

At the west end, a parapet gable contains an early Perpendicular transomed nave window between offset buttresses, and a 19th-century 3-light west window serves the north aisle. The east end displays parapet gables to both the south chapel and chancel. The chancel's east window is a 14th-century 2-light with geometrical tracery, moved from Haresfield Church during the 1840 restoration. The south chapel has a 3-light Decorated window with quatrefoil tracery. Small 13th-century 2-light and 19th-century 2-light windows light the north sides of the chancel and north chapel respectively.

The southwest tower dates to the early 14th century and rises in three stages. The lower stage features offset angle buttresses; both the lower and middle stages have trefoil-headed lancets in two faces, with the middle stage also containing chamfered rectangular openings. Tall narrow trefoil-headed belfry openings light the upper stage. A 14th-century moulded crenellated parapet with a moulded string course below is decorated with the remains of two animal gargoyles visible on two faces.

The interior is limewashed. The south arcade comprises three bays restored in 1840 with octagonal columns having moulded capitals and bases. The north arcade, dating to 1878, contains four bays and matches the southern work. A 13th-century pointed chancel arch with hood mould spans the chancel opening; a 2-light squint with trefoiled lancets in a square opening lies to its right. The nave is covered by a panelled timber barrel roof.

The chancel has a 2-bay arcade serving the north chapel, matching those of the aisles. Three openings connect the chancel to the south chapel: from the east, a small single lancet, a large round arch with small keystone and imposts, and a Jacobean open-sided memorial arch to John Trye. The chancel roof is 19th-century, comprising five bays of arched-braced collar and king post trusses with a brattished wall plate. Restored 19th-century pointed arches divide each aisle from its respective chapel. Both aisles feature 19th-century wagon roofs. An early 14th-century tower arch opens beneath the tower. The south chapel is covered by a flat panelled timber ceiling with cambered side panels.

Two 13th-century lancet piscinae are set in the south chancel wall. The church contains 19th-century box pews and a 13th-century circular stone font in the nave, its pedestal adorned with clustered shafts.

The south chapel houses an extensive collection of Trye family monuments and memorials. Five chest tombs are present: three at the east end, carved with coats of arms and various attached columns and pilasters, including marble-topped examples inscribed to Anne Trye (died 1678) and William Trye (died 1681), and another with a moulded limestone top inscribed to John Trye the Elder (died 1597). Two additional chest tombs stand against the south chapel wall: one with fluted Ionic pilasters and side inscription panels commemorating Captain Henry Trye (died 1629) and William Trye (died 1609); another, low and lyre-ended with a now-illegible marble top.

A large arched open-sided memorial set in the south chancel wall is Jacobean in style, featuring a crudely carved entablature of differing designs on its north and south faces. Crested arms are mounted on the keystone, beneath which lies a recumbent effigy with a hound at its feet and a child effigy alongside; it is said to commemorate John Trye (died 1591). A further memorial on the south chapel wall bears arms above a scrolled pediment and moulded panel inscribed in Latin to 'Jonannis Trye, obdormuit Ano Dm 1651'. A Greek Revival wall memorial to Richard Martin (died 1818) in the north chapel was created by T. King of Bath. A memorial in the tower, surmounted by cherubs' heads, commemorates John Stratton (died 1719).