St Nicholas, East Dereham
St Nicholas, East Dereham
St Nicholas is a Grade I parish church on Church Street in Dereham, Norfolk, in the Diocese of Norwich. Tradition holds that St Withburga founded a church here in 654; a holy well in the churchyard marks her first burial.
- Location
- East Dereham, Norfolk
- Country
- England
- County
- Norfolk
- City / town
- East Dereham
- Address
- Church Street, East Dereham, Norfolk, NR19 1DN
- Postcode
- NR19 1DN
- Built
- 12th–16th centuries; restored 19th century; NE vestry 1922
- Denomination
- Church of England
- Dedication
- Nicholas
- Diocese
- Norwich
- Parish
- East Dereham
- Grade
- I
- Style
- Decorated; Perpendicular
- Materials
- Flint rubble with some knapped flint; stone dressings; lead roofs
- Grid reference
- TF 986 133
- Opening hours
- We endeavour to keep the church open during the hours of daylight.
- Access
- Level access to the main areas. Accessible toilets nearby
Overview
Historic England records a pre-Conquest origin, with the earliest visible fabric of the twelfth century (the south-west door, spiral shafts by the chancel arch and parts of the south transept arch). The chancel, north transept arch and arcades are thirteenth century. In the fourteenth century the crossing tower was rebuilt one bay west, transepts were added and the nave lengthened. Late fifteenth-century work includes refenestration of the south aisle, enlarged transepts, new roofs and a clerestory. The south porch is about 1500; a detached bell tower (listed separately) was built about 1515–25. The central tower was reduced in 1539. The fabric is flint rubble with stone dressings and lead roofs.
The plan is aisled and cruciform, unusual in that the transepts and nave extend one bay east of the crossing. Principal fittings include a Seven Sacraments font documented to 1468, a brass eagle lectern of 1482, and painted late fifteenth-century ceilings in the transeptal chapels. A monument to the poet William Cowper (died 1800) by Flaxman stands in the north transept. A screen of about 1480 from Oxburgh was installed at the south transept in 1949. St Withburga’s well lies at the west end of the churchyard.