Church of St Nicholas
CHURCH OF ST NICHOLAS, HIGH STREET
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- I
- List Entry Number:
- 1040326
- Date first listed:
- 23-May-1967
- List Entry Name:
- Church of St Nicholas
- Statutory Address:
- CHURCH OF ST NICHOLAS, HIGH STREET
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Location
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Images of England Project
- Date:
- 2004-02-10
- Reference:
- IOE01/11807/02
- Rights:
- © Mr Roger Ashley. Source: Historic England Archive
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Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- I
- List Entry Number:
- 1040326
- Date first listed:
- 23-May-1967
- List Entry Name:
- Church of St Nicholas
- Statutory Address 1:
- CHURCH OF ST NICHOLAS, HIGH STREET
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
Location
- Statutory Address:
- CHURCH OF ST NICHOLAS, HIGH STREET
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- District:
- North Northamptonshire (Unitary Authority)
- Parish:
- Islip
- National Grid Reference:
- SP 98671 78911
Details
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
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 232483
- Legacy System:
- LBS
Sources
Books and journals
Pevsner, N, The Buildings of England: Northamptonshire, (1961), 269
Ryland, W, Adkins, D, Sejeantson, R, The Victoria History of the County of Northampton, (1930), 215
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 13-Jun-2026 at 18:53:56.
Download a full scale map (PDF)End of official list entry
All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.