St Nicholas Church, Littleborough facts for kids
Quick facts for kids St Nicholas Church, Littleborough |
|
|---|---|
St Nicholas Church from the southeast
|
|
| Lua error in Module:Location_map at line 420: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). | |
| OS grid reference | SK 824 826 |
| Location | Littleborough, Nottinghamshire |
| Country | England |
| Denomination | Anglican |
| Website | Churches Conservation Trust |
| History | |
| Dedication | Saint Nicholas |
| Architecture | |
| Functional status | Redundant |
| Heritage designation | Grade I |
| Designated | 1 February 1967 |
| Architectural type | Church |
| Style | Norman |
| Specifications | |
| Materials | Rubble including Roman bricks, stone dressings, slate roofs |
St Nicholas Church is an old church that's not used for regular services anymore. It's an Anglican church, which means it belongs to the Church of England. You can find it in a tiny village called Littleborough, in Nottinghamshire, England. It's a really important building, listed as Grade I, which is the highest level of protection for historic places in England. The Churches Conservation Trust looks after it, making sure it stays safe for everyone to see.
Contents
History of the Church
Littleborough is built on top of an old Roman town called Segelocum. This Roman town was right next to a place where people could cross the River Trent. It was also on a major Roman road that connected important cities like Lincoln and York.
The church isn't mentioned in the Domesday Book, which was a huge survey of England made by William the Conqueror. Some people think William the Conqueror might have started the church himself. This is because it's located in what used to be his land, known as the manor of Mansfield.
The church was probably built in the second half of the 11th century (around the 1050s to 1090s). It was repaired and updated in 1832, when a small room called the vestry was added. The vestry was rebuilt in 1900. The church was repaired again in 1973. On April 1, 1993, the church was officially handed over to the Churches Conservation Trust.
Church Design and Features
Outside the Church
St Nicholas is a small church made from rubble, which means rough, broken stones. This rubble includes pieces of brick, even some old Roman bricks! Some parts of the walls have neat rows of stones, while others have a cool "herring-bone" pattern. The church has special cut stones called quoins at the corners and around openings. It also has ashlar dressings, which are finely cut stones used for decoration. The roofs are covered with slate.
The church has a simple layout. It has a main area called the nave (where people sit) with two sections, and a smaller area at the end called the chancel (where the altar is). There's also a small room on the north side called a lean-to vestry. At the west end of the church, on the pointed part of the roof (the gable), there's a double bellcote where the bells hang. At the east end, there's a cross on the gable.
At the west end of the church, you'll find a round-topped doorway. This doorway has buttresses on either side, which are supports built into the wall. On the north side of the church, there's a brick chimney and one window with a round top. On the south side, there are two round-topped windows from the 1800s. At the east end of the chancel, there's one round-topped window from the 1800s, and another similar window in the south wall. The north side of the vestry has a window with three sections, divided by vertical bars (mullions) and horizontal bars (transoms).
Inside the Church
The arch that separates the chancel from the nave dates back to the 11th century. It even has two pillars that are from the Anglo-Saxon period, which is even older! The stained glass in the east window was put in around 1900. In the south wall of the chancel, there's a special basin called a piscina from the 1300s. It has a three-leaf clover shape at the top.
The font, which is used for baptisms, has a square base. Its bowl, the part that holds water, is shaped like an eggcup and dates from the 1600s. The cover for the font is from around the 1700s. It's shaped like a dome with a ball decoration (called a finial) on top. The lectern (where readings are given) and the reading desk are from the 1800s. The wooden benches are from about 1900. There are also monuments inside the church that date from between 1765 and 1855.
See also
- List of churches preserved by the Churches Conservation Trust in the English Midlands
- Grade I listed buildings in Nottinghamshire
- Listed buildings in Sturton le Steeple
