St Nicholas Church, Durham

The original St Nicholas' Church is thought to have been founded in the early 12th century by Ranulf Flambard, Prince Bishop of Durham. He cleared Palace Green, between the cathedral and his castle, and established the current marketplace below the castle, with the church of St Nicholas, patron saint of merchants, beside it.[2][3] The first recorded vicar was Galfrid de Elemer, in 1133.[4]

This church had a buttressed nave and chancel, and a square tower with battlements. Its north wall formed part of the city walls, and abutted the ancient Clayport Gate on one side until the gate's demolition in 1791.[2] A graveyard lay between the church and the marketplace, and another behind the church.[2]

The building was extensively modified over the centuries, including shortening of the east end to allow widening of the road, and in the 19th century a market piazza was built against its south wall.[2] It was described in 1803 as "very ruinous",[2] while Sir Stephen Glynne, who visited in 1825, described it as 'a large structure displaying some marks of antiquity although the barbarous hand of innovation has swept nearly all before it.'[5]

In 1854, a competition was held to secure an architect to renovate the church, which was won by 24-year-old Darlington-based architect James Pigott Pritchett junior.[2][6] However, when the market piazza was demolished, it was found that the church was beyond repair, and Pritchett was engaged instead to design and build a new church. The incumbent, George Townshend Fox, gave an initial donation of £1000 (equivalent to £100,000 in 2021) towards the cost of rebuilding.[6]

The old church was demolished in June 1857.[2] Almost all that remains from it is its font, dating from 1700, and its five bells, dating from 1687 and therefore the oldest ring of bells in the diocese. Though the bells were not rung from the 1970s onwards due to fears for the safety of the tower, ringing resumed in 2000 and the 17th-century bells, along with a sixth added in 1889, are now rung frequently.

Pritchett's new church, in the decorated gothic style, was estimated to cost £3,600 (equivalent to £385,000 in 2021) and was opened with great ceremony in December 1858.[2] The building was described by the Illustrated London News at the time as "the most beautiful specimen of church architecture in the north of England", and was considered by Nikolaus Pevsner to be one of Pritchett's best.[7] It was the first church in Durham to have a spire; which had not been part of Pritchett's original plan, but was added at the behest of Fox, who paid the £400 cost himself.[2] It is a Grade II listed building.[8]

George Carey, later Archbishop of Canterbury, was vicar of St Nicholas from 1975 to 1982. During that time he led a project, supervised by ecclesiastical architect Ronald Sims, in which the pews and the majority of the Victorian interior features of the church were removed to allow the church to be used more flexibly for worship and community activities.[2] Carey's book The Church in the Marketplace describes the process and its impact on the life of the parish.[9]

During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, the church moved many of its activities online, producing morning and evening services each Sunday as well as daily prayer. Vicar Arun Arora reported that the church had seen increased attendance at some online services compared to previous in-person events, and intended to continue livestreaming its services once in-person gatherings resumed.[10]