Hockerton: St Nicholas
Diocese of Southwell & Nottingham
Closed Church, 638321
This church is on the Heritage at Risk Register (verified 2025-11-06)
View more information about this church on the Heritage at Risk website
Overview
Grid reference: SK 715 564
Of Norman origin with subsequent alterations. Restored in 1876 by Hodgson Fowler.
Visiting and facilities
Building is closed for worship
Building
Ground Plan Description and Dimensions
Ground plan:
West tower, aisleless nave with south porch, chancel.
Dimensions:
[Approximate] Nave 11 m (36 ft) x 6 m (20 ft), chancel 6 m (20 ft) x 4 m (13 ft)
Footprint of Church buildings: 122 m²
Description of Archaeology and History
Early settlement of the area is recorded within a kilometre of the site. A cropmark visible on aerial photographs has been identified as a Late Prehistoric enclosure. There is also a cropmark recorded that is believed to be two Bronze Age ring-ditches.
Vicars have been recorded at the church since c.1175 and a church is mentioned in the Doomsday Book. Evidence of a Norman building are suggested by the simple round chancel arch, small south nave window in deep recess and blocked north door. The church incurred some damage during the civil war, and a petition was made to King Charles II in 1684 for oak wood to repair the roof. The church was restored in the 1870s by the architect Charles Hodgson Fowler of Southwell [1840-1910]. Work included reroofing the chancel, rebuilding the east gable, repairing the chancel arch, constructing a new south buttress, restoring the nave roof, blocking the north door, part-rebuilding the south wall and the addition of a south porch. The tower was also restored, reroofed and a gallery removed. The interior was overhauled with a new floor, new pews, new pulpit, lectern and the font was restored. There is faint evidence on the walls of a painted decorative scheme which was perhaps introduced at this time.
The archaeological potential of the site is considerable. There are no known designations relating to the ecology of the plot, though it contains mature trees.
Exterior Description
St Nicholas is a compact church with a substantial west tower, whose dominance is limited to the immediate area by the build up of thick vegetation to the north boundary. The tower has stepped angle buttresses and two-light louvred openings on each elevation beneath a crenelated parapet (pinnacles removed). An oak door in the west elevation is set within a moulded surround with hoodmould and headstops with a three-light window above.
Cast-iron rainwater goods service the building, though are not all in good repair, the hoppers are each marked with a six-pointed star. The simple stone church has a gabled south porch with round arch opening and stone cross finial. Small lights pierce its east and west walls. The east nave and chancel gables also have stone copings and cross finials.
The north wall is difficult to access but a blocked north door, with hoodmould and headstops, is visible towards the west end, and a blocked arch can also be discerned within the north chancel wall. The east wall could not be accessed but the square-headed east window is reported to have carved heads to either side. The nave has a single substantial south buttress, and the chancel also has one south buttress.
Building Fabric and Features
Nave
12th century aisleless
Tower (component)
14th century west
Porch
19th century south addition
Chancel
12th century
Building Materials
Stone
12th - 14th century coursed partly squared rubble
Ashlar
12th - 14th century dressings
Tile
19th century plain roof - reroofing
Terracotta
19th century crested ridge tiles - reroofing
Interior
Interior Description
Just next to the door, inside the porch, is a medieval stone holy water stoup. Inside the door is an ancient oak alms box. One of the stones in the lintel of the door is carved with a flower. The interior has a high nave with scissor-braced collared timber roof. The walls are plastered and painted white with exposed stone surrounds around the windows and door. Most of the windows are of clear diamond-leaded panes. To the west is a tall pointed tower arch, the base of which is concealed by a curtain and used for storage. It has a stone-flag floor and three-light west window, and access to the bells is via a narrow stone spiral stairway behind a small door in the south-west corner.
The nave has red and black quarry floor tiles with carpet laid up the central aisle and pine pews fixed to raised wood (oak?) platforms either side. They have decorative ends designed to match a single surviving 17th century pew end stored at the rear of the church.
A pointed lancet is positioned high in the north wall within a deep recess. At the east end of the north wall is three-light square-headed window. There is a small single lancet Norman window in the south wall, east of the door, and a three-light window above the pulpit in the south-east corner.
A round Norman arch leads into the chancel which is raised by a single step and roofed by scissor-braced trusses, much lower than the nave. Oak choir stalls face each other. They are without frontals but the seat-backs are carved with traceried panels and the ends fashioned in the style of the nave pews. The floor tiles are more decoratively arranged and include encaustic tiles. Three-light windows within north and south walls (tracery in the south wall has been dated medieval).
Step up to sanctuary, encaustic floor tiles, the altar raised by another step where it is positioned beneath a three-light window (again, with medieval tracery). A 14th century recessed niche, probably an Easter Sepulchre [Pevsner] in the south wall. Inscribed text can be seen on the horizontal slab, obstructed by the wall above, probably older fabric reused. A smaller niche in the wall above.
Fixtures and fittings
Altar
19th century Simple limed-oak table with open cross in the centre, the arrangement of floor tiles indicates that the altar would have been against the east wall.
Pulpit
19th century Partly-octagonal oak with blind tracery panels in the south-east corner, on a raised stone plinth with three steps.
Lectern
19th century Oak with buttressed base.
Font (component)
19th century Octagonal stone font raised on single step, with flat wood cover and iron handle.
Rail
19th century Oak, simply carved.
Stained Glass
19th / 20th century • South aisle, lancet – WWI memorial window (see below). Symbol of Whitefriars Studio; • East window – 3-light window depicting Ascension of Christ by Ward & Hughes, 1876 in memory of Susannah Whetham, d.1870; • South chancel – 3 lights – St Nicholas, Virgin and Child and St Cecilia – in memory of James Mills, once vicar, d.1912 and his wife, d.1898. Attributed by Dr Neil Moat to Messrs. James Powell & Sons (Whitefriars).
Plaque (component)
18th century Oval marble plaque in memory of John Augustine Finch, d.1780, north chancel wall.
Organ (component)
19th century Wooden harmonium by D W Karn & Co, Woodstock, Canada c.1890 at east end of the nave.
Portable Furnishings and Artworks
Registers dating since 1582 kept at Nottinghamshire archives.
Churchyard
Grid reference: SK 715 564
Burial and War Grave Information
It is unknown whether the building is consecrated.
It is unknown whether the churchyard has been used for burial.
It is unknown whether the churchyard is used for burial.
The churchyard has war graves.
National Heritage record for England designations
There are no records of National Heritage assets within the curtilage of this site.
Environment
Ancient, Veteran & Notable Trees
Caring for God's Acre is a conservation charity working to support groups and individuals to investigate, care for, and enjoy the wildlife and heritage treasures found within churchyards and other burial grounds. Look on their website for information and advice and please contact their staff directly. They can help you manage this churchyard for people and wildlife.
To learn more about all the species recorded against this church, go to the Burial Ground Portal within the NBN Atlas. You can check the spread of records through the years, discovering what has been recorded and when, plus what discoveries might remain to be uncovered.
There are no records of Ancient, Veteran or Notable Trees within the curtilage of this site.
Renewables
| Renewable | Installed |
|---|---|
| Solar PV Panels | No |
| Solar Thermal Panels | No |
| Biomass | No |
| Wind Turbine | No |
| Air Source Heat Pump | No |
| Ground Source Heat Pump | No |
| Ev Charging | No |
Species summary
There are no records of species within the curtilage of this site.
Caring for God's Acre is a conservation charity working to support groups and individuals to investigate, care for, and enjoy the wildlife and heritage treasures found within churchyards and other burial grounds. Look on their website for information and advice and please contact their staff directly. They can help you manage this churchyard for people and wildlife.
To learn more about all the species recorded against this church, go to the Burial Ground Portal within the NBN Atlas. You can check the spread of records through the years, discovering what has been recorded and when, plus what discoveries might remain to be uncovered.
'Seek advice' Species
More information on species and action to be taken upon discovery.
Caring for God's Acre is a conservation charity working to support groups and individuals to investigate, care for, and enjoy the wildlife and heritage treasures found within churchyards and other burial grounds. Look on their website for information and advice and please contact their staff directly. They can help you manage this churchyard for people and wildlife.
To learn more about all the species recorded against this church, go to the Burial Ground Portal within the NBN Atlas. You can check the spread of records through the years, discovering what has been recorded and when, plus what discoveries might remain to be uncovered.
Further information
Sources
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