Going past the medieval preaching cross in the churchyard, we enter the building through the 1595 door, to be impressed by the simplicity of its interior. The restoration of 1893, when a new east window and two windows in the north wall were replaced, has not altered this spaciousness.

The high, steeply pointed arches, topped by the clerestory windows under the flat ceiling, emphasize the simplicity of this sacred space.

Walking between this stark avenue of thirteenth century pillars, everything points and leads us to that which the building has been built to contain, the high altar.

Here the worshippers kneel at the communion rails that, unusually, enclose the altar table on three sides; this was the arrangement favoured by the reforming Archbishop Laud, who died in 1645.

Behind the altar, in the glass of the pre-Raphaelite window, we see the Risen Jesus: it is as if He is the host, welcoming all those who kneel around Him to His party at His altar table.

This encounter with the Risen Jesus may remind us of that other encounter with Him that the two disciples had on the road to Emmaus.  They had run away from Jerusalem, defeated and despairing because Jesus, their leader, had been crucified.  A stranger catches up with them, asking why they are looking so discouraged. He helps them to make sense of their experience, he struggles with their intellects, he reorganises their love. He accepts their invitation of hospitality, enters their house, shares their bread.

The disciples’ eyes are opened as they recognise who is breaking bread with them. Finally, in their excitement, they run to share this experience with their friends. Then as now, and throughout all time, it is this experience of sharing bread with the Risen Jesus and His followers that continues to form the Church.

Who was St Nicholas, to whom the church is dedicated and whose pictures, icon and symbols are all around the church? St Nicholas was the fourth century bishop of Myra in Turkey, and is the patron saint of children and also of sailors. Famously, he is remembered for the three girls whom he saved from a life of prostitution. Their father did not have enough money to provide them with a dowry. So Nicholas threw three bags of money through the window at night, saving them in their distress, enabling them to fulfil the conventions of the day and have a dowry.

As the patron saint of children and the giver of presents, Nicholas is the original for Santa Claus.