Description

OAKLEY OAKLEY CHURCH LANE
TM 17 NE
2/142 Church of St. Nicholas
29.7.55
II*
Parish church. Medieval, restored 1876-8. Nave, chancel, west tower, south
porch, north vestry. Flint rubble, the north walls of nave and chancel
cement-rendered; stone dressings. Slated roofs. C14 tower with diagonal and
angle buttresses; string courses below belfry stage and parapet, the latter
with gargoyles at the angles. Crenellated parapet with flushwork panelling.
Restored 2-light west window; 2-light belfry openings. 2-bay C14 nave with
good C15 windows of 3 lights. Moulded C14 south doorway with stoup adjacent.
North doorway, probably of C15 date, now blocked. Good C15 porch of knapped
flint, with flushwork panelling to the facade and plinth. Entrance arch
enriched with fleurons and crowns; spandrels carved with shields of arms
within circles. Above is a row of quatrefoils and to each side canopied
niches. Paired 2-light parvis windows with central canopied niche between and
sundial above. Crenellated parapet. The side windows of the porch have re-
set fragments of medieval glass. C15 chancel with 3-light side windows and 4-
light east window, all much restored. Interior. C14 or C15 nave roof with
arch-braced tie beams and principal rafters; main components all moulded, with
fleuron bosses at the intersections. Rafters concealed by C19 boarding.
Chancel roof renewed c.1860. In north wall of nave are the rood stairs and 2
canopied image niches of C15 date. East bay of nave is slightly recessed; to
the south is a piscina and drop-sill sedilia. Trefoil-arched angle piscina in
chancel. Plain octagonal font on round stem against north nave wall. 4 C15
poppyhead benches at west end of nave. Other furnishings are C19, including, a
tile and mosaic reredos of 1882. In the chancel is a plain marble and
alabaster tomb chest for Sir William Cornwallis (1611).

Listing NGR: TM1571977366

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17536090

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

• 
  Gloucestershire 1: The Cotswolds: Cotswolds Pt. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Sussex: East with Brighton and Hove (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides): Written by Charles O'Brien, 2014 Edition, Publisher: Yale University Press [Hardcover]
• 
  Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair
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  Cambridgeshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Dorset (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)