Description

TG 41 NW; 9/103

POTTER HEIGHAM,
CHURCH ROAD (east side),
Church of St Nicholas

16.04.55

GV

I

Parish church. C12 west tower and chancel, the former with belfry stage added
C15, the latter remodelled C15. C13 nave and aisles, remodelled in major
building works around 1500 (bequests date from 1479 to 1535, when a new aisle
built, 1506 church leaded). Restored 1802, 1875, 1895 (windows, roof and
porch) and 1951 (south aisle roof). Flint with ashlar dressings and some
brick. Nave and chancel thatched, south aisle leaded, north aisle felted.

Two-stage tower, the lower stage circular. C19 2-light Y tracery west window.
Corbel table with grotesque heads below C15 octagonal belfry stage enriched
with flushwork. 2-light cusped windows to alternate faces, flushwork tracery
to the remainder. Crenellated flushwork parapet with short pinnacles above
corbel table. Aisle west windows are single lancets with hood moulds. 2
storey gabled south porch supported on diagonal buttresses. Double chamfered -
entrance arch below centrally placed brick statuary niche containing medieval
carving of Wild Man. This flanked by one brick lancet each side. 2-light.
C15 ogee side windows. Aisles with diagonal corner buttresses and one stepped
side buttress each side. 3 C19 Perpendicular square-headed 3-light aisle
windows. 6 restored late C15 3-light clerestory windows with continuous
hoods. Wave moulded north aisle doorway. 2 2-light late C15 chancel south
windows. Between them an arched priests' door. Chancel unbuttressed. One
2-light Y tracery chancel north window. 3-light cusped intersecting early
C14 east window.

INTERIOR. Four-bay octagonal arcade on moulded bases. Moulded
capitals and double-chamfered arches. Chamfered tower arch on polygonal
responds with polygonal capitals. Double-chamfered chancel arch on polygonal
responds with capitals. Late C15 or early C16 hammer-beam nave roof, the
hammer beams dropping on arched braces to polygonal wall posts with bases and
capitals. These rest on angel corbels bearing shields, crowns and scrolls.
Arched braces to principals, the spandrels pierced. Two tiers butt purlins
and ridge piece with bosses. All timbers moulded and the hammer beams
crenellated. Aisle roofs of similar date. Arched braces rise from wall posts
to purlins and principals, all moulded. Octagonal C15 brick font, very rare
(Francis Bond identifies 4 examples : Fonts and Font covers, Oxford, 1908).
Octagonal flint plinth, each alternate facet with step. On remaining facets
shields in rectangular panels. Panelled stem to font with moulded brick
buttress strips. Bowl in panels, each with 2 trefoiled heads. 12 C15
poppyhead bench ends. Late C14 monochrome wall paintings in south aisle
depicting the 7 works of mercy. Damaged late C14 wall paintings in north
aisle : St. Christopher, St. Anthony, frieze representing Joseph and Mary,
Annunciation, Adoration of-Wise Men, Herod and St. Nicholas. Chancel screen
1501 of 2 bays right and left of arched opening. Simple tracery heads. Dado
subdidived into 2 bays with tracery and paintings. From left to right : St.
Mark, St. Augustine, St. John, St. Gregory, St. Jerome, St. Eligius, St. Luke,
St. Ambrose. Above screen is original rood beam upon which is timber
Crucifixion of 1909. Fragments of wall painting survive behind. 4 C15
poppyhead bench ends in chancel. C19 scissor braced chancel roof. C17 altar
rail with turned balusters and ball finials. Alabaster wall monument on
chancel south wall to various members of Myhill family 1660-1709. Square
inscription panel with drapery folds at top and leaf scroll borders. Above
is swan-necked broken pediment containing urn. Semi-circular apron with
relief skulls against which is set a coat of arms. Parvis stairs in south-west
corner of nave aisle of brick. Parvis roof of principals and ridge piece.

Listing NGR: TG4194819930

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17536887

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

• 
  A Buying and Owning a Listed Building: A Brief Guide
• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990: Updated version
• 
  The Listed Buildings and Other Principal Structures at the Royal Gunpowder Mills Waltham Abbey
• 
  England's Post-War Listed Buildings
• 
  This Old House: Restoring, Rehabilitating, and Renovating an Older House
• 
  Cambridgeshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)