Church of St Nicholas

The Church of St Nicholas stands in the quiet village of Hinxworth, Hertfordshire. Most of the building dates from the 14th century, though the chancel was rebuilt in the early 19th century. The flint walls and clunch dressings show its medieval roots, while the red-brick chancel adds a later touch. A two-stage west tower rises above the nave, its battlements and buttresses marking the 14th-century style. The south porch, built in the 15th century, shelters visitors entering the churchyard. The church holds unusual details that reward a closer look. Two canopied niches flank the north window and the south-east corner of the nave, their canopies carved with care. A blocked spiral staircase beside the north window once led to the lost rood screen, its 14th-century steps still visible. The west arch, built around 1350, has semi-octagonal shafts that catch the light. The chancel ceiling carries simple bosses, and the stained-glass windows date from the mid-19th century. Inside, two monumental brasses draw attention. One high on the north wall shows Simon Ward and his wife, dated 1453 and 1481. The other, on the floor, commemorates John Lambard, Alderman of London, and his family. The mid-18th-century pulpit and the nearby 16th- or early 17th-century Rector’s chair sit beside a small octagonal font. Six bells hang in the tower, their inscriptions naming founders from 1651 to 1908. The tower and bells were restored in the 1980s after a BBC Radio appeal by Monica Dickens, who once lived in the village.