Church of St Nicholas is a
Grade I listed church in
Barton le Clay,
Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council ...
, England. It became a listed building on 3 February 1967.
History
Barton-le-Clay was mentioned in the
Domesday Book
Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manus ...
.
St Nicholas' Church was first mentioned in 1178. It was mentioned by
Pope Alexander III as being part of
Ramsey Abbey. This continued until the
Dissolution of the Monasteries by
King Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disagr ...
when it became property of the
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...
under The Crown.
As it was treated as part of the Abbey, The Crown retained the
right of presentation which had always been granted except in 1660 when the
Bishop of Ely made the
collation
Collation is the assembly of written information into a standard order. Many systems of collation are based on numerical order or alphabetical order, or extensions and combinations thereof. Collation is a fundamental element of most office filin ...
.
Architecture
The church was rebuilt in the 13th century, with the nave being expanded in the 14th century
with the church tower being built in the 15th century.
The tower has a chequerboard pattern.
The north aisle has carved figureheads of the
Twelve Apostles
In Christian theology and ecclesiology, the apostles, particularly the Twelve Apostles (also known as the Twelve Disciples or simply the Twelve), were the primary disciples of Jesus according to the New Testament. During the life and minist ...
and a 14th-century stained glass window of
Saint James.
The west end features The south aisle is more modern but contains 13th century stones in prominent places under the windows.
At the west end, it features an early example of
blackletter memorial smalls from 1370 and 1400.
In 1879, it underwent restoration.
In 1967, it was granted grade I listed status by
English Heritage
English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses.
The charity states that i ...
.
It is surrounded by 19th century iron railings with a lamppost which has its own separate grade II listed status.
See also
*
Grade I listed buildings in Bedfordshire
There are approximately 372,905 listed buildings in England and 2.5% of these are Grade I. This page is a list of these buildings in the county of Bedfordshire,http://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Advanced_Search.aspx?reset=true Engli ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barton le Clay, Church of Saint Nicholas
Church of England church buildings in Bedfordshire
Grade I listed churches in Bedfordshire