Church Of St Nicholas

An Anglican parish church at Ashchurch, constructed over several centuries from the 12th to 15th centuries, with substantial restoration campaigns in 1889 and 1931, and a small mid-to-late 20th-century extension.

The exterior comprises a nave of random limestone with a coursed, squared and finely dressed limestone and sandstone clerestory. The south porch and tower are constructed of large coursed, finely dressed limestone blocks. The chancel has an artificial stone slate roof, the nave a leaded roof, and the 12th-century nave with 15th-century clerestory carries a red tile roof. The south nave wall features two raking buttresses, possibly added in the 14th century.

A narrow 12th-century round-headed window with cable moulding sits above an early studded plank door with strap hinges and later fillets, set within a pointed casement-moulded surround within the porch. The outer order of the doorway is 12th-century, decorated with chevron and pellet ornament, with a hoodmould bearing incised decoration and scrolled stops. Part of a 12th-century impost with ogee-curved incised decoration remains on the left. To the right of the porch are two 3-light windows with trefoil-headed lights in chamfered stone surrounds; to the left is a 2-light window with trefoil-headed lights and carved spandrels. Three 3-light clerestory windows with trefoil-headed lights and carved spandrels sit above a battlemented parapet.

A projecting 14th-century porch, positioned off-centre left, has a moulded plinth and an 18th-century fielded panelled double door within a pointed-arched entrance with casement-moulded surround and stopped hood. A 2-light window in a pointed-arched surround within the gable formerly lit an upper chamber (the floor of which has been removed). Similar windows light the ground floor on the porch sides, with single-light windows in the side walls of the former upper chamber. A square block sundial with metal gnomon sits at the roof apex. Stone bench seats line the side walls within the porch. A defaced ogee-curved stoop stands to the right of the door, and below it is a free-standing segmental-headed headstone to Ralph Leynes of Northway, died 1644.

The late 13th-century north aisle or chapel is buttressed, with two 2-light windows with carved spandrels and a low flat-chamfered pointed-arched north doorway (now brick-blocked). A 3-light pointed window occupies the east end. A small 20th-century extension extends from the west end.

The south wall of the chancel features a flat-chamfered plinth with raking buttresses and an early 14th-century pointed window at its east end. Two 2-light windows in rectangular surrounds occupy the north and south walls. The late 14th-century three-stage tower has diagonal buttresses and a moulded plinth. A 14th-century 3-light pointed window sits at the west end. Two-light belfry windows with stone louvres pierce the belfry stage. A battlemented parapet with crocketed pinnacles and a string with eroded gargoyles crowns the tower. Flat coping with cross saddles sits at the gable ends of the north aisle or chapel; saddleback coping with a ball finial marks the gable end of the chancel.

The scraped interior comprises a nave with north aisle, a chapel of St. Thomas at the east end of the north aisle, a chancel, and a west tower. A six-bay 13th-century nave arcade features octagonal piers and pointed arches. Two flying buttresses, dating from the 1888 restoration, support the arcade wall in the north aisle. A blocked segmental-headed north doorway and a tall double-chamfered arch with imposts lead from the nave to the tower. Traces of wall painting—a simple foliate motif in red—remain on the arch. An early plank door in a flat-chamfered surround, accessing the tower, sits to the left of the archway.

The nave roof is 19th-century, constructed with king posts and raking struts. The chancel shows the lower part of three arch-braced tie-beam trusses (the upper part obscured by a plastered ceiling), with a 19th-century brattished wallplate. The chapel or north aisle roof features massive tie beams and a brattished wallplate; simple corbels lower on the walls indicate that the roof once had braced supports. One corbel, possibly reused, bears carved decoration (now defaced).

A flagged floor covers the interior. An octagonal stone font with a 14th-century limestone pedestal and plinth sits towards the west end of the nave. 19th-century pews and choir stalls feature blind tracery, and a 19th-century multi-facetted pulpit has pierced tracery sides. A fine 15th-century wooden rood screen with coved projecting canopy displays finely carved pierced tracery with vine scroll motifs. A painted Tudor frieze at wallplate level in the chapel continues into the aisle, rendered to resemble panelling with small suns at the centre of each panel; it includes portraits, one with the initials 'R.G.' and another with the word 'GRACE' in the background. A 19th-century wooden communion rail and altar table are present. Two fine 16th-early 17th-century chairs—one with dragon motif—and three high-backed late 17th-early 18th-century chairs are among the furnishings. A fine 17th-century carved altar table with frieze displaying dragon motif sits in the chapel. An early parish chest in the north aisle bears traces of three locks. Royal arms of George I on canvas hang over the nave arcade. A large 17th-century carved panel with guilloche, vine scroll motifs, and arcaded blind panels containing single flower motifs decorates the nave north wall.

Monuments include a marble monument on the nave south wall to William Ferrers, second son of Roger Ferrers of Fiddington Court, died 1625, comprising a round-headed alcove with painted bust, inscription, and goldleaf outline. A small brass to Robert Baker, died 1671, bears an inscription in rhyming verse; two 19th-century brasses also stand nearby. The north wall of the chancel bears two 19th-century monuments, one to members of the Ruddle family of Walton House. A ledger on the north wall of the chapel commemorates George Banaster, died 1734, and Sarah, his wife, died 1729. Another ledger on the north wall of the north aisle records William Haynes of Ashchurch, died 1654, and his wife, died 1652. A marble ledger to Thomas Smithsend, died 1717, sits to the right of the tower arch. Numerous 18th and 19th-century ledgers occupy the west end of the nave, and 17th and 18th-century ledgers line the east end of the north aisle. A rectangular brass plaque to Roger Ferrers, citizen and merchant of London, died 1636, is fixed to a 20th-century choir stall. A brass to Thomas Ferrers, died 1583, and Ane, his wife, died 1605, is fixed to the choir stall opposite.

The east window contains stained glass by Hardman; other windows are mostly by Kempe. Some quarries of possibly late 14th-century glass remain at the west end of the north aisle.