Church of Saint Nicholas

St Nicholas’ Church stands on a hilltop above the old part of Stevenage in Hertfordshire. Built of flint and puddingstone, it has a massive 12th-century tower, a nave with north and south aisles, a choir, a Lady chapel and a Trinity chapel. The church occupies the site of Stevenage’s earliest settlement, which began in the 7th century around a small wooden church. The tower, added early in the 12th century, was designed as a refuge with walls five feet thick and narrow windows for firing arrows. Most of the rest of the building was rebuilt in the 13th century, leaving the tower as the oldest surviving part. In the 15th century aisles were widened, a chancel rebuilt and a Hertfordshire-style spire added. The church also carries traces of painted murals from the 13th and 14th centuries. Inside, visitors find a square 13th-century font with a medieval wooden cover. Faint remains of wall paintings and a once-gilded rood screen survive. The tower shows signs of earlier roof levels, including a high door above the present roof line. A low brick-lined ditch runs around the church, added in the 19th century to keep soil away from the walls.