St Nicholas Church, North Walsham

Foundation to the Reformation The Domesday Book records a church at Walsam, and that the church owned of land. There are remains of the original pre-Conquest tower at the west end of the church's north aisle. ==Description==

St Nicholas Church is located in the centre of North Walsham close to the marketplace, and surrounded by narrow streets. The building is about long internally, and approx. overall when the ruined tower is included. The body of the church has a mixture of Decorated Gothic and Perpendicular styles. The building has seven bays running along its length. It lacks an arch to the entrance of the chancel. In the west wall of the north aisle is a lancet window. Most of the aisle windows have restored intersecting tracery. The main entrance doorway and the chancel are Decorated. The east window and east aisle windows were restored in 1874, and the 500-year-old medieval roof was replaced between 1875 and 1881. The pinnacled entrance porch is richly carved and decorated with colourful statues and heraldic emblems. During the medieval period the south chapel area of the church contained a shrine to Thomas Becket, popular with pilgrims en route to Bromholm Priory at Bacton. The porch is described by the architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner as "a showpiece of the late 14th century". The date is confirmed by the emblems of Edward III and John of Gaunt. The building is one of Britain's largest parish churches. The original size of the tower () meant that it was one of the tallest churches in Norfolk. The church’s two piscinae were used for rinsing the sacred vessels after the Eucharist On the north side of the south chapel an arch may be seen behind the sedilia. Its function is unknown, but it may have been designed to increase the light level, or to permit an unconfirmed or excommunicated person could watch a church service. ==Furnishings and fixtures==

St Nicholas contains many unusual features and artifacts. These include medieval misericord seats, the remains of a highly decorated parclose screen with an array of painted saints, and a unique Communion Table. An inscription along the front of the table quotes the first Book of Common Prayer (1549) introduced by King Edward VI; it allows the table to be dated from between 1549 and 1552. The screen, which was built in , shows 20 saints painted on wood, of which all but two have survived, although these are defaced. It was restored in the 1840s.The outer panels depict the Apostles, the Virgin Mary and six saints. A second screen is now in the north aisle. The small carved figures in the spandrels are possibly early 15th century. According to an early 20th-century booklet produced by the church, the 20 panels (from north to south) depict: an obliterated saint; St Catherine of Alexandria; the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary; Gabriel; the Apostles Jude, Matthew, Philip, Thomas, Simon, Peter, Paul, Andrew, John, James the Greater, Bartholomew, and James the Less; St Barbara; St Mary Magdalene, Margaret, and an obliterated figure. The screen belongs to the Ranworth group. The intricately carved telescopic baptismal font has a pelican at the top, and is suspended from a wooden beam. The large iron chest is unusual in that it has seven locks. It required seven people to be present if the chest needed to be unlocked, each possessing their own key. There are two misericord seats in the south chapel. ==People==

A prominent feature of the inside of the church is the ornate marble tomb of Sir William Paston, 1st Baronet (1528–1610), who founded the Paston School. The alabaster monument above the tomb was made in 1608 by the London sculptors John Key and William Wright. It was commissioned by Sir William, and depicts him lying on his side propped up on his elbow. The monument has Ionic columns, three obelisks, Corinthian columns the Paston coat of arms, and a pair of supporters on either side of the uppermost obelisk. The accompanying epitaph was composed by Michael Tilles, the first headmaster of the Paston School. The church’s monumental brasses commemorate Margarete Hetercete (1397); Sir Edmund Ward, Vicar, (1519); William Rous (1404); Sir Robert Wythe (1515); Robert Raunt (1625), John Page (1627), William and Joan Bettynys (1460); and Robert Bradfield (15th century). ==Services and congregation==

The rector of this Church of England parish as of 2026 is the Revd David Warner SCP. The other churches in the benefice (at Edingthorpe, Worstead, and Westwick) rotate their Sunday services. St Nicholas Church is open each day of the week for visitors. Blessings for marriages held elsewhere, thanksgiving prayers, dedications, and requested for God’s blessing for same-sex couples are granted. The church's regular services are: • Morning Prayer every week day • A 'Market Day' service on Thursdays • Holy Communion, held twice every Sunday • A monthly Evening Prayer service. ==Notes==