Description

TACKLEY CHURCH HILL
SP4720 (South side)
5/60 Church of St. Nicholas
27/08/57
GV II*
Church. C11 origins. C13 tower, south aisle and alterations. C15 transepts,
clerestory and alterations. North transept largely rebuilt 1616. Restored and
porch added by G. E. Street 1864. Limestone rubble; chancel of coursed rubble;
nave and aisle west wall and porch of regular coursed stone. Shallow-pitched
lead roofs have ashlar parapets and gable parapets with moulded cornices and
copings; porch has stone-slate roof. Cruciform plan with central tower, south
aisle and porch. 2-bay chancel, 3-bay nave. Chancel appears exceptionally tall
due to the sloping site. Large clasping buttresses and wide shallow south
buttress have irregular quoins. 3 stepped east lancets with moulded sill course
are C13. Immediately above central lancet is a stone panel with shield above
enclosed in a stepped moulded stone frame. Inscription above in Latin has the
name John Standard and is dated 1625. South windows are C15 Perpendicular with
deep hollow-chamfered jambs, moulded tracery and hood moulds. 2-light eastern
window has cusped Y-tracery; large 3-light western window has panel tracery.
North transept has splay plinth and diagonal buttresses of 2 offsets. Blocked
doorway in north-east angle. 3-light Perpendicular north window. Small chamfered
Tudor-arched west doorway has C19 plank door. South transept has
hollow-chamfered plinth, and south-east diagonal and south-west buttresses of 2
offsets. 4-light Perpendicular south window. Nave has 2 blocked simple C11 round
arches of irregular voussoirs. Eastern arch has short, wide 2-light window of
1864 with heavy bar tracery. Western arch has C11/C12 small, simple, chamfered
Romanesque doorway with imposts and C19 plank door with decorative ironwork.
Clerestory of 2 widely-spaced restored straight-headed windows of 2 trefoiled
lights with hood mould. C19 decorated rainwater head and downpipe. Nave and
aisle west wall are of one build. Nave has tall C14 three-light window with
cusped intersecting tracery and hood mould with head stops. Porch has Early
English style doorway of 2 chamfered orders and nook-shafts. C15 Perpendicular
moulded doorway inside has wide hollow-chamfered segmental arch, spandrels with
blind tracery, hood mould and C19 double-leaf doors. Low lean-to against east
wall of porch. Aisle has small octagonal chimney above. C19 straight-headed
2-light windows to east and west of porch have bar tracery. Clerestory of 4
two-light windows. Tower of 2 stages has north and south buttresses of 2
offsets, largely embedded in the transept walls. Moulded string courses. Bell
chamber has 2 openings to each side of a trefoiled round arch with louvres in
chamfered straight-headed surrounds. Moulded cornice and embattled parapet with
a gargoyle at each corner. Interior is plastered. Chancel east windows have
triple arches of two chamfered arches and clustered shafts. C15 piscina on
octagonal shaft at foot of east jamb of south-east window. South window
mouldings are continued down to form sedile. North wall has 3 chamfered Tudor
arches of varying widths. 2 of them are separated by a round shaft and have hood
moulds; easternmost arch forms a tomb recess. C19 three-bay roof has chamfered
segmental-arched braces, wall posts and pierced plate tracery. Crossing has
arches of 3 chamfered orders, broad splayed jambs and simple imposts. Transepts
have C19 roofs. Nave has blocked round arches in north wall, and a similar but
much smaller blocked arch below the clerestory to north and south. 3-bay C13
south arcade of 2 chamfered orders has round piers with moulded bases on large
octagonal pedestals, and stiff-leaf capitals; west respond is a much more
slender attached shaft. C19 roof has chamfered tie beams and braces, and wall
posts on painted shield corbels. Fittings: small reredos, probably designed by
Street, of inlaid coloured stones. Stalls, altar rails and pews of c.1864. C13
font has compound shaft with nailhead ornament, and bowl with simple trefoiled
blind arcading. Brass eagle lectern dated 1905. Late C19/early C20 octagonal
wood pulpit and rood screen. C19 stained glass. Monuments: tomb recess in
chancel has C15 tomb chest with miniature buttresses and 4 arched panels, and
incised cross on top. Wall monument above has shield of arms above a stone panel
within a stepped moulded stone frame. Inscription to Peter Aileworth (1595) and
his wife Anne (1611). Small wall monument near north-east corner: William
Harborne 1658. Small panel in moulded surround with scrolled pediment and
cartouche of arms. North transept east wall: John Harborne 1651 and his wife.
They kneel facing each other, with coffered round arches above, architrave of
pilasters and obelisks and entablature with putti, and predella showing their
children. South transept east wall: John Morton 1780, signed John Bacon and
dated 1794. Fine large Neo-Classical figure of Justice in high relief, in low
relief shaped panel with volutes and drops and draped urn above. Pedestal with
inscription. West wall has a black marble panel to members of the Whicker Morton
family 1682 to 1746 listed 1-10 in a table. South aisle: Sir John Whalley Smythe
Gardiner, 1797; signed J. Bacon London 1799. Neo-Classical relief of a mourner
weeping over a draped sarcophagus.
(Buildings of England: Oxfordshire: p803)

Listing NGR: SP4758720170

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17532804

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

• 
  Hampshire: South (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Maintaining and Repairing Old Houses: A Guide to Conservation, Sustainability and Economy
• 
  Listed Buildings and Other Heritage Assets
• 
  Sussex: West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Specifications for Building Conservation: Volume 1: External Structure: Practical Examples v. 2
• 
  Sussex: East with Brighton and Hove (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)