Parish Church Of St Nicholas

The parish church of St. Nicholas is a building dating primarily from the 13th century, with elements from the 12th century, a 15th-century west tower and chancel, and an 18th-century south porch. It is constructed of coursed rubble stone, with the chancel of rough rubble, and with a brick porch. The roofs are tiled. The church consists of a four-bay nave, a two-bay chancel, and a west tower, with a Victorian north vestry adjoining the nave. The east window of the chancel has two 4-centred traceried lights under a hood mould. The chancel also has two 2-light windows with cinquefoiled lights under a square labelled head and a smaller lancet. The north wall of the nave reveals 12th-century herringbone work in the lower parts. Three north windows are present: an eastern lancet, a 3-light window with cinquefoiled lights, and a 3-light leaded oak framed casement, a former gallery window. South windows mirror the gallery casement layout. A 2-light window and a 3-light 15th-century window flank the south doorway. The 13th or 14th-century north and south doors retain moulded jambs and pointed heads. The brick south porch has a gabled roof. The two-stage west tower is topped with a moulded string and embattled parapet, with a 5-stage stair turret with a pyramid roof. The tower features a 15th-century west window, loop lights in the upper part of the lower stage, and belfry windows of two cinquefoil lights with a quatrefoil in a 2-centred head. The interior of the chancel includes a 14th-century piscina with a cinquefoil ogee head and sexfoil basin, and a late 15th-century roof of three trusses, the easternmost with an arched tie-beam. The nave roof is 14th-century, altered in the 15th or 16th century. The chancel arch, dating from the 13th or 14th century, is reset and off-centre. The tower arch, dating from around 1480, is of two chamfered orders. The font has an early 13th-century cup-shaped bowl, a fluted scallop design, a foliage band, a cable rim, and an octagonal 15th-century stem and moulded base. A brass memorial in the chancel commemorates John Frankeleyn and his wife, dated 1462. Stained glass is present in the west window of the tower and the southeast window of the nave. Royal arms depicting George II are on the chancel north wall. A 14th or 15th-century wall painting depicting St. Nicholas is found above a partially blocked north door. Commandments are bordered on the wall above the chancel arch, cut into by the present, 17th-century reset chancel arch. A wall monument to Egelton, dated 1778, includes painted scrolls, a plinth pediment head, and a putto apron.