St. Nicholas, Fyfield, Berkshire

Description

The church of St. Nicholas, an edifice of stone, chiefly in the Middle and Third Pointed styles, consisting of chancel, nave of four bays, north aisle, north or Golafre chantry, and a modern western, turret containing a clock and 2 bells, was almost entirely destroyed by fire Oct. 27th, 1893, including the miserere stalls and screen of St. John Baptist's chapel and the Decorated rood-screen: in the chancel is the tomb of Lady Catherine Gordon (the "White Rose of Scotland"), daughter of Alexander, 3rd Earl of Huntly, and widow of Perkin Warbeck, one of the pretenders to the throne in the reign of Henry VII.; she died c. 1527; and in the north or Golafre chantry is the altar-tomb of Sir Thomas Golafre, lord of the manor, who died in 1442, with his effigy in armour upon the upper slab, while in the open space below lies the figure of a shrouded skeleton; both these tombs have been damaged, but not irreparably; the restoration of the church was completed in Nov. 1894.

Church Records

The early registers, destroyed by the fire of 1893, dated from the year 1583.