St. Nicholas, Abbots Bromley, Staffordshire

Description

The church of St. Nicholas, standing nearly in the centre of the town, is a large and ancient edifice of stone in the Early Decorated style, consisting of chancel, clerestoried nave, aisles, south porch, and a lofty western tower containing a clock and 5 bells: the tower and spire having fallen in the year 1688, the former was rebuilt in the Italian style: in the north aisle, on a slab of alabaster, is an effigy in brass representing John Draycote, a burgess of Abbots Bromley, ob. 1463, and in the tower are preserved a reindeer's horns and a hobby-horse, still occasionally carried in procession: the hobby-horse dance taking place at the village wake, on the first Monday after Sept. 4th; the church was restored in 1855 at a cost of £4,000, when the floor was lowered two feet, and the bases of the columns, previously buried, again disclosed: there are 650 sittings.

Church Records

The parish register dates from the year 1558.