Church Of St Nicholas

The Church of St Nicholas is an Anglican parish church, displaying fabric from the 12th, 13th, 14th, and 18th centuries. The north wall of the nave and the chancel are constructed from roughly squared limestone, while the south wall of the nave uses coursed squared and dressed limestone. The tower is built of ashlar. The church comprises a nave, a projecting north porch, a chancel, and a west tower.

The north wall of the nave features a single 13th-century trefoil-headed lancet window to the left of a projecting 14th-century porch. The porch conceals an early plank door within a pointed-arched surround dating around 1200, which incorporates a carved head and an animal head stop. An early plank door is also situated within a pointed arch to the porch, accompanied by stone bench seats. A stepped continuous string runs along the right side of the porch. The buttressed south wall has one 2-light and one 3-light stone-mullioned casement window, with Tudor-arched heads, enriched spandrels, with one dated 1624, and stopped hoods. The chancel has diagonal and end buttresses, and contains reused stone with roll and cable mouldings. It has two 2-light stone-mullioned casements to the south, and a plank door within a moulded three-centred arch. The east window is a three-light Decorated window with restored mullions. The three-storey tower, dated 1567, has diagonal buttresses and a battlemented parapet, formerly punctuated by corner pinnacles and eroded grotesques. It has a flat gable-end coping. A fine Early English 2-light west window features cinquefoil-headed lights and richly moulded cusped circles. The belfry windows are 2-light with stone louvres within casement moulded surrounds.

Inside, the nave walls are plastered, while the chancel walls have been scraped clean. The nave has an early facetted roof, including a cambered tie beam with raking struts; the chancel also has a facetted roof. The floor is flagged. A 12th-century chancel arch has imposts, with reused stonework, displaying cable and diaper mouldings, on either side. A niche is present in the north wall of the nave. A 20th-century bowl font stands on a 14th-century base decorated with ball flower and engaged columns, opposite the north door. The church retains restored late 15th-century pews, and two pew ends with linenfold panelling. A carved stone king’s head is set into the sill of the chancel window. Also present are a 17th-century turned communion rails with knobs, a 20th-century communion table, a panelled octagonal pulpit with a sounding board bearing an inscription ("Michael/ /Tyller/William/Awoode/Church/ Wardens/16/55”), rosette decoration, and pendants. A restored 17th-century reading desk is inscribed with “Quench not ye spirit/Despise not phrophecy”. Wall paintings on the nave wall include a large royal arms of William and Mary, dated 1689, enclosed within draped architectural features. Traces of the Lord’s Prayer and Creed are found in 16th-century lettering on the north wall. Fragments of 15th-century glass, decorated with flowers, are set in a north chancel window. There are no monuments within the church.