St Nicolas' Church history

Abingdon abbey — Image from the Abingdon Missal

St Nicolas' church is one of the few remaining parts of the great Benedictine Abbey of St Mary at Abingdon, and was the final part of the rebuilding of the abbey in the twelfth century. This small church was built by the gate, partly within and partly outside the abbey precincts for the numerous lay officials and servants attached to the abbey, and for visitors.

The church is unusual in that the nave crosses the course of the River Stert. This river, which now flows in a culvert under Stert Street, marked the western boundary of the Parish of St Nicolas', and so the tower and part of the nave were outside the parish.