St Nicolas' Church is the Anglican parish church of the village of Pevensey in the Wealden district of East Sussex, England. The church is a Grade I Listed building.
History
St. Nicolas Church is the parish church of Pevensey, with its daughter church, St. Wilfrid's, serving Pevensey Bay. It is named after Saint Nicholas, the patron saint of seafarers. The Church’s origins can be traced to the Roman occupation of Britain and is built on the original site of a Saxon or Priory church dating from the fifth century, which at the time would have overlooked the sea, now some 1/2 mile distant. The Church we see today was built in its present form in the medieval period, between 1205 and 1216.
The completed St Nicolas Church remains a splendid example of ‘Early English’, or ‘Early English Gothic’, architecture. England's Gothic architectural tradition originated in France in the mid 12th century and spread rapidly to England. It is the plainest and closest to French building styles of the period. It is typified by the simplicity of its vaults and tracery, the use of lancet windows and smaller amounts of sculptural decoration than either Romanesque or later varieties of Gothic church building.
St. Nicolas’ size and relative grandeur reflect the importance of Pevensey as a major seaport at the time of its construction. Evidence suggests that it may have been intended to have been even larger by extending it to the west, but this was never carried out.
Architecture
St Nicolas is fortunate to have several notable original architectural features. There are fine examples of medieval windows. The three Lancet window openings above the High Altar are perfect examples of their period c.1200. Also, in the south aisle there are twin windows of Early English style, set in deep mouldings. Both these windows had stained glass installed during the late 19th-century restoration in the reign of Queen Victoria (1819 – 1901).
The Chancel is ‘off-set’ at an angle from the Nave by 34/60ths of one degree. This feature is often seen in medieval churches, and is said to symbolize the angle of Christ’s head upon the cross, but also to give an illusion of increased building length. The stone Chancel arches have acutely pointed capitals of stiff foliage. These are a distinctive feature of the ‘Early English’ church building style.
The Chancel was built and roofed in the reign of King John in c.1205. It has a high, cradle roof construction which is impressive for its simplicity of hand sawn and hand jointed Sussex oak workmanship, and of great beauty. It was quite likely made by local shipbuilders. It shows uniform, shaped frames built and erected along a keel to form the internal framework and then over turned to form the arched roof. It is mostly original and has survived practically unchanged.
The Nave was built c.1210 in the reign of King Henry lll. One of the most conspicuous features in the Nave are the double-chamfered arches. Three on the north and five on the south side. These are supported on columns which are alternately clustered, with quatrefoil designs, and octagonal. The Clerestory windows are between the arches and not in the traditional place, which is to be above them. Cut into the pillars of the Nave are two niches which held small sacred figures. The figures are likely to have been destroyed during the Protestant Reformation in the early 16th century.
The oak ‘waggon’ roof of the Nave (being a Cradle-roof constructed of a closely spaced series of double arch-braced trusses, suggesting the shape of a covered wagon), was a necessary part of the 19th-century restoration but the main beams and king posts are probably original and still sound. For a considerable time previously, the Nave had a false ceiling, above which air circulation was so poor that much of the roof timber had rotted and decayed.
The Norman font is made from stone from Caen, William the Conqueror’s home town, in Normandy. It has an intricate, locally carved Victorian wooden lantern hood, circa 1890. There is also a Muniment Chest (1664), and a replica Offertory Box with a long handle (the original is in safe keeping to avoid theft), used in the days of box pews which may have been owned by wealthy families, or possessed by parish landowners.
On the floor in the South Aisle is an ancient and heavy stone grave cover, thought to be 13th century, with the outline of a darker cross. It is one of two found in the Chancel during the 19th-century restoration. It is likely to have covered the grave of an early incumbent.