Church of St Nicholas

The Church of St Nicholas is a Norman building, likely dating to the 12th century, with a west tower, transepts, and a chancel. The exterior is constructed of random rubble masonry using a mixture of sandstone and limestone, with some traces of render on the north transept and the nave. The window dressings and tracery, inserted during a 19th-century restoration, are of oolitic limestone. The roof is slate, with gable copings on kneelers, and a cross finial at the east end.

The tower is vaulted internally in two stages, and accessed via a ladder, as there is no stair turret. The parapet projects on corbels on all faces, with the crenellated upper section projecting further; this feature is documented in an 1827 drawing. Single belfry lights are present to the east and west, and double lights to the north and south, with Tudor label moulds on all but one. The masonry’s character changes approximately two-thirds of the way up the tower. Two small paired lancet windows are set into the south wall of the chancel, and a single lancet is in the east wall of each transept. A square opening is located at a high level on the north wall of the nave; all these openings are blocked and not visible from the interior. Large stones, potentially of archaeological interest, are incorporated into the walls of the north transept.

The chancel is vaulted and contains an oak altar table and an encaustic tile floor. The vault is pointed and slightly off-centre. The stained glass in the east window dates to approximately 1851, and the large pointed chancel arch is from the 19th century.

The nave also features an encaustic tile floor with 19th and 20th-century memorials, and stained glass dating to 1884, some of which is in poor condition.

The north transept is slightly smaller and not perfectly aligned with the south transept. Set into the east wall of the south transept is the late 13th-century tomb of William and Isamay de Naunton, consisting of a limestone slab with sculpted alabaster faces. The tomb does not originally fit within the transept, as it doesn't sit flush and blocks an opening. Large squints, offering views of the altar, are present in each transept.

Within the south transept are two crosses: the Penally Cross, richly carved on both faces with a wheel-head, and a large fragment of another cross, featuring decorative "gripping beasts." Records exist of a lost inscribed stone which likely belonged to this latter cross, but it disappeared in 1851 when on display in Tenby.

A Norman font, with 19th-century re-dressing marks, is also present. The font features four scallops on each side, a short column with a round moulding at the top, and a small square base. The Penally Cross is designated as Ancient Monument no. Pe 142.