Description

SP9878 ISLIP HIGH STREET
(West side)

15/51 Church of St. Nicholas
23/05/67

GV I

Church. C14 and C15, restored 1854-55, vestry added 1881. Squared coursed
limestone with ashlar dressings, tower and spire. Lead roofs. Aisled nave,
chancel, north vestry, south porch and west tower. South elevation of chancel of
2-window range of 3-light Perpendicular windows with 4-centred arch heads.
2-stage buttress between windows and at corner. Priest door to left of centre
has roll moulding and 4-centred arch head. Shallow gabled roof with ashlar
parapet and central gargoyle. 5-light Perpendicular east window with hollow
reveals and 4-centred arch heads Ashlar gabled parapet above with finial. North
elevation of chancel is similar to south but with a C19 lean-to vestry between
the windows. Vestry has 2-light Perpendicular style east window. South aisle of
3-window range of 3-light Perpendicular windows with hollow reveals and
4-centred arch head. 2-stage buttresses between windows. Lean-to roof with
ashlar parapets and 3 gargoyles. Similar Perpendicular 3-light east and west
windows. Gabled porch to left of centre has roll-moulded outer arch with
semi-circular responds and a roll-moulded inner arch. Both have niches with C20
figures above. Return walls of porch have 2-light windows set in internal arched
recesses on inside. North aisle of 4 bays, 3-window range of 3-light
Perpendicular windows with hollow reveals and 4-centred arch heads. Bay to right
of centre has north doorway'with moulded stone surround. 2-stage buttresses
between bays. Lean-to roof with ashlar gable parapets and 2 gargoyles. Similar
3-light Perpendicular east and west windows. Nave clerestory of 4-window range
of 2-light Perpendicular windows with hollow reveals and 4-centred arch heads.
Shallow gable roof with ashlar parapets and finial and 4 gargoyles to each
elevation. West tower of 4 stages with plinth, the upper stage is subdivided.
Shallow ashlar angle buttresses. Perpendicular west doorway with ogee-head
surround and quatrefoils in the spandrels. 3-light window above with ogee-head
hood mould. Quatrefoil windows with square surround to north, south and west
faces of third stage. Fourth stage is ashlar with 2-light bell-chamber openings
to each face. Each has stone lattice work: panels in the lights and an ogee-head
hood mould. Quatrefoil frieze with diamond panels, above, and gargoyles at
corners. Set back ashlar spire with crockets and 2 tiers of lucarnes. Interior:
4-bay nave arcade of Perpendicular arches with piers formed of chamfered
projections to nave and aisles without capitals, and slim shafts with capitals
to openings. Ogee-head hood mouldings to each arch. Double-chamfered and moulded
chancel arch with semi-circular responds and similar, tall, tower arch. All
windows set in arch-head recesses with low cills. C19 roof structures all with
original angel and saints' head corbels. Fragments of Perpendicular roof
structure are reset at east end of chancel roof. Piscina to right of altar with
corner shaft and openings in 2 directions. Early C20 chancel screen, rood
figures and chancel furnishings by Temple Moore. Holy water stoup with shallow
vaulted niche to right of south door. Octagonal font with C18 cover. Monuments:
Dame Mary Washington died 1624 and Catherine Curtis died 1626. Identical
arch-head tablets, with detached columns supporting entablature, on north and
south walls of chancel. John Nicholl and wife. Pair of brasses, with ogee-head
surrounds, in chancel floor, reconstructed early C20 by Reverend H. Macklin.
Elizabeth Hargreaves died 1791 inscribed tablet above north door. Reverend R.M.
Vane died 1842 inscribed tablet above south door. Fragments of pre-C19 glass.
C19 stained glass: 3 east windows, south chancel window and west tower window.
Chancel east window by Kempe and north aisle east window by Clayton and Bell.
(Buildings of England: Northamptonshire, p.269; V.C.H.: Northamptonshire, Vol.3,
p.215).

Listing NGR: SP9867178911

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17526745

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Cambridgeshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  London 6: Westminster (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England): Westminster v. 6
• 
  For the Record
• 
  Yorkshire: York and the East Riding (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Building Small Projects (New Best of Fine Woodworking)
• 
  Devon (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)