St Nicholas

largely rebuilt in C13

with C14

early to mid-C15 alterations

extended and altered in C16

C17.

St Nicholas is now in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust. 'This Medieval church was built for merchant traders beside Gloucester’s (now vanished) west gate. The church is a city landmark, known for its leaning, truncated white stone spire. Damage was caused to the spire by a direct hit by Royalist troops during the Siege of Gloucester in 1643 – and it is now topped with an attractive coronet. The existing church dates back to the 12th century, though most of it was rebuilt in the 13th and larger windows were added later.' http://www.thecityofgloucester.co.uk/things-to-do/st-nicholas-church-p1102993

© HelenK

MATERIALS: it is constructed from Cotswold oolitic limestone ashlar and rubble, with some red brick to the rear, under gabled roofs of Welsh slate and plain tile with stone coping.

EXTERIOR: the church is in the Early Norman and Early English styles, with Perpendicular additions.

The mid-C15 tower has three stages, a chamfered plinth, moulded stringcourses, diagonal corner buttresses with offsets rising to the top of the second stage and small panelled buttresses to the third stage.

The western bay of the south side of the nave has an offset buttress and a two-light pointed-arched window with C14/C15 tracery and hoodmould with labels.

The gabled south porch, which originally had an upper room, was added in 1347 and rebuilt in the mid-C19.

To the right (east) the five bays of the south elevation of the south aisle are defined by buttresses with two offsets rising to the underside of a moulded corbel table, and in each bay is a large C13 semi-circular arched window of three lights in an Early English surround with jamb shafts and moulded capitals and bases, under a continuous hoodmould.

The windows were remodelled in the C15 when Perpendicular tracery was inserted.

In the C19 the windows in the west bay and the west gable wall were restored to a C13 design with plate tracery.

The window in the south aisle’s east gable wall has an Early English surround with inserted C14 Decorated tracery and a hoodmould over.

The east wall of the chancel has a C15 five-light window with Perpendicular tracery.

The east bay of the C15 north aisle is built of brick and breaks forwards and contains a Decorated window.

The adjacent two bays each have a Perpendicular window beneath a gable, and the remaining windows to the west are C16/C17.

INTERIOR: the entrance to the nave, within the main south porch, is C12 and has a shouldered doorcase with a pair of C19 timber plank doors set within a semi-circular surround with renewed nook shafts, foliage capitals and a tympanum with a carving of Agnus Dei flanked by foliage.

The door has a replica (the original is at the Museum of Gloucester) sanctuary knocker in the form of a demon-like figure.

Above the door, within the nave, is the Royal Coat of Arms of Charles II, its date altered to 1689.

The belfry stage above has a C17 timber bell frame

The six-bay north arcade has a double-chamfered pointed arch to the western bay, probably C15, then two early-C12 round arches carried on short circular piers,

the three eastern bays have early-C13 pointed arches on more slender circular piers

The south arcade of four bays is early C13.

The nave has a C19 open timber roof with four king-post trusses with decorative upper struts supported on carved stone corbels.

Between the nave and chancel is an arch-braced truss springing from corbels carved with angels.

The chancel has encaustic tiles from Maw & Co (The Buildings of England, see Sources), including a decorative dado, a simple communion rail and quadruple squints in the north and south walls which were inserted in the early C16 to provide a view of the sanctuary from the aisles.

The south aisle is broader and at its east end is a plain octagonal stone font, possibly C16

the bowl possibly renewed, and an alabaster chest tomb with painted reclining figures of alderman John Walton, died 1626 and his wife, Alice, died 1620.

The front of the tomb has a carving of two arched panels flanked by pairs of fluted Ionic columns and each contain a kneeling figure.

Fixed to the west wall of the south aisle is a reset section of Jacobean oak panelling from the former west gallery Most of the fittings are C19 and include linenfold pews and a timber Perpendicular pulpit.

The stained glass in the east chancel window and the east window in the south aisle are by Moons & Son of Bristol and date to 1882

The many wall tablets and monuments are C17, C18 and C19.

In memoriam to a '...learned, studious divine, Richard Green, son of Richard Green of this Citty..' (sic). According to the inscription, he died in Oxford of a ruptured blood vessel in 1711 aged 22.

© Mike Searle