NHER 7473 (Building record) - St Nicholas' Church, Brandiston

Saxo-Norman church with round tower, rebuilt 1906.
North aisle is original nave, including Roman bricks.
South arcade 13th century.
South aisle rebuilt as nave about 1500; old range reduced.
Chancel demolished, probably at reformation.
Later buttresses and alterations.
Medieval tomb slab.
Medieval sherds from churchyard.
See (S1) in file.
E. Rose (NLA), 27 April 2002.

The church is in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust (2006).

This church is built mostly of flint, with a pantiled roof. It has an unusual plan, as the tower stands at the west end of the north aisle. The aisle was originally the nave, its chancel having been demolished by the 18th century. The rebuilding of the nave was carried out around 1400. The tower was almost completely rebuilt in 1890 after being damaged in a gale. The lower part of the tower is round, the octagonal top being a later modification. There was nothing in the tower to indicate an original date earlier than the 12th century until repairs in 1996 revealed that a crack was in fact the south-west corner of the original Norman nave. The tower windows are part of the Victorian rebuilding. Below the north-west nave buttress are signs of what may be reused Roman brick and conglomerate quoining, perhaps dating to the 11th or 12th century. There is a single bell, recast in 1904.
Information from (S2).
A. Cattermole (NLA), 20 October 2009.