Condicote, St Nicholas Church

St Nicholas Church, Condicote

Condicote is a small village in a lovely rural setting, a few miles north-west of Stow-on-the-Wold. At the heart of the village, facing the wide village green, is the ancient church of St Nicholas, built in the late 12th century.

The church is very small and simple, composed of a buttressed nave, chancel, south porch, north vestry, and a bellcote over the western gable. It is built of rubble under a Cotswold stone roof. The 12th-century nave stretches only three bays and, like, the chancel, was remodelled in the 15th century.

The south porch was added in 1888 during a restoration directed by Mark Hookham of Stow-on-the-Wold. Hookham was also responsible for the single bellcote.

The superb 12th-century doorway

The living has always been a rectory, linked, for much of its history, to Oddington, where the church is also dedicated to St Nicholas.

Condicote was a remote and comparatively poor parish in the Middle Ages. In 1292 the rector was deemed too old to serve the congregation.

Historical Highlights

The church retains many of its original Norman features, including the impressive 12th-century south doorway, with its traditional Norman carvings. The tympanum is finely decorated with chip-carved crosses.

The Norman chancel arch

The west exterior wall is decorated with string courses carved with chevrons, pellets, and double cable designs, all common Norman motifs.

The rebuilt chancel arch is similarly decorated, with designs suggesting that it was re-carved around AD 1200. In the chancel is a string course of the same period, a Norman piscina supported by a corbel of a comical head, and a 17th-century reredos.

On the north wall of the chancel is a marble monument to John Payn (d. 1813) and his wife Hannah (d. 1780). The epitaph adds the poignant line, 'Also three of their children, who died in infancy'.

The chancel, looking west (note leaning walls)

The octagonal font is very plainly carved and may date to the 14th century. It appears to have been recut in its present form during the 15th century.

Set into the floor is a worn ledger slab to Hercules Hide, Gent., who died in 1719. Also set into the floor is a ledger stone in memory of George Haslam, described as a 'Citizen and Apothecary of London'.

Visiting

The church stands on the north side of the village green. There is parking on lanes surrounding the green. The church was open when we visited and is, as far as we can determine, regularly open to visitors.

12th-century piscina and corbel head

This simple little country church is a delight, with a wealth of Norman features that make it one of my favourite churches in the area. It isn't grand or imposing like, for example, Northleach, but it has so many original 12th-century features that it is well deserving of a visit.

Note: do not mistake Condicote church for the similarly named Codicote in Hertfordshire. Even search engines (I'm looking at you, Google) seem to confuse the two.