Church Of St Nicholas, Barton Le Clay
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Church of St Nicholas is a
Grade I listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...
church in Barton le Clay,
Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated ''Beds'') is a Ceremonial County, ceremonial county in the East of England. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Hertfordshire to the south and the south-east, and Buckin ...
, 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 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...
. St Nicholas' Church was first mentioned in 1178. It was mentioned by
Pope Alexander III Pope Alexander III (c. 1100/1105 – 30 August 1181), born Roland (), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 7 September 1159 until his death in 1181. A native of Siena, Alexander became pope after a Papal election, ...
as being part of
Ramsey Abbey Ramsey Abbey was a Order of Saint Benedict, Benedictine abbey in Ramsey, Cambridgeshire, Ramsey, Huntingdonshire (now part of Cambridgeshire), England. It was founded about AD 969 and Dissolution of the Monasteries, dissolved in 1539. The site ...
. This continued until the dissolution of the monasteries by King
Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...
of England when it became property of the
Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...
under The Crown. As it was treated as part of the Abbey, The Crown retained the
right of presentation The right of patronage (in Latin ''jus patronatus'' or ''ius patronatus'') in canon law (Catholic Church), Roman Catholic canon law is a set of rights and obligations of someone, known as the patron in connection with a gift of land (benefice). I ...
which had always been granted except in 1660 when the
Bishop of Ely The Bishop of Ely is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Ely in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese roughly covers the county of Cambridgeshire (with the exception of the Soke of Peterborough), together with ...
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 fi ...
.


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 Great James the Great ( Koinē Greek: Ἰάκωβος, romanized: ''Iákōbos''; Aramaic: ܝܥܩܘܒ, romanized: ''Yaʿqōḇ''; died AD 44) was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. According to the New Testament, he was the second of the apostles t ...
er. The west end features a thirteenth-century lancet window. 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 Blackletter (sometimes black letter or black-letter), also known as Gothic script, Gothic minuscule or Gothic type, was a script used throughout Western Europe from approximately 1150 until the 17th century. It continued to be commonly used for ...
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, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...
. 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 Englis ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barton le Clay, Church of Saint Nicholas Church of England church buildings in Bedfordshire Grade I listed churches in Bedfordshire