Church of St Nicholas

The Church of St Nicholas is a building comprising a west tower, nave, aisles, chancel, transepts, and a south porch. It was constructed of random masonry with sandstone dressings, under slate and tile roofs. The massive, circa 13th century square tower is unbuttressed with slightly tapering sides, and the narrow round-headed openings with sandstone dressings suggest a possible defensive purpose. The bell stage and spire date back to 1815, although the timber cladding of the bell stage was replaced around 1982. A doorway was cut through the tower’s south wall in the late 19th century.

The nave is substantially early 19th century and has a shallow pitched roof, a moulded sandstone cornice, and raised copings. This later remodelling is in a late Decorated style and consists of four bays separated by three diagonal buttresses, each featuring a Perpendicular window. At the west end of the south side is an ornate porch, with a parapet and a pedimented gable above the entrance, which contains a statue niche. This replaced an earlier porch located at the east end. The chancel and the two short transepts have diagonal buttresses at the corners of each gable and windows with reticulated tracery. A door leads through the east side of the north transept, and a blue brick chimney stands at its north end. A war memorial, situated 6 metres inside the gate, takes the form of a plain octagonal shaft surmounted by a cross.

The tower contains a well-preserved timber bell-frame, and the internal window heads have been truncated, suggesting that the tower once rose higher. The nave and aisles are under a single roof, although the aisles have inserted timberwork ceilings which reduce their height. The nave and aisles are separated by arcades of timber on cast iron columns set on stone bases. These arcades, which until a 1867 remodelling also carried galleries within the aisles, are said to have been made at Coalbrookdale and feature square capitals with foliage decoration and neck rings. The nave has a simple King post truss roof. Modern pews have replaced earlier box pews. The east window contains stained glass in a geometrical pattern, and the transept windows also contain stained glass; the north window commemorates Robert More White, a former vicar, and dates to 1906.

Furniture includes a panelled pulpit dating to circa 1812 and a carved screen from the late 19th century. A large slate clock, now located on the ground floor of the tower and no longer in working order, is also present. A stoup, supported on an octagonal pier with recessed trefoil-headed arches on each face, is located in the northwest corner near the entrance. There are two fonts: one from the 14th century and one from the 19th century. The 14th-century font is in poor condition, consisting of a plain octagonal bowl on an octagonal stepped base and a semi-hexagonal plinth.