The Nub News young historian, has a really exciting one this month.

Todd Phillips writes : From the title you're probably thinking "Nelson?" what's he got to do with Radstock. I honestly asked myself the very same thing when I entered St Nicholas' church and spoke with one of the Church Wardens, Sally Bailey.

The earliest record of the church dates back to its consecration on the 6th of December 1297. It is named after its Patron Saint and St Nicholas' Day is celebrated on the 6th of December in the UK. However, it is possible that passing monks from Glastonbury Abbey travelled through Radstock area to preach and teach and it highly likely that there was a wooden preaching cross in the area now the churchyard.

The Church's original design dates back to the Norman Period,

this is not uncommon many of the Normans had flattened any Saxon remains and built their own versions of churches.

When the church was rebuilt in 1879, the font was recovered from the farmyard just across the road and was restored and replaced within the church. Now the upper part of this is Norman, dated to around 1150 and is in very good condition.

You will see on the front of the church itself actually contains the original entrance that was created in 1297. In 1879, the church was expanded as the original design was too small for the current community. The church was extended eastwards and a north aisle was added. In the later years of 1997, the floor was discovered to be badly rotten and so the whole floor was replaced allowing it to be used on a more continuous base rather than just an hour on a Sunday. This is the current floor you will see today.

On the right-hand side of the porch entrance, you will see there is a shadow of what was originally a sun dial, or even a scratch dial. The only issue is the upper half of the dial has unfortunately deteriorated. However, it is believed that this was used marking the time of mass, rather than the time of day.

Years passed and as Christianity grew, so did the community.

So now time to write about the grandson of Nelson himself, Horatio Nelson Ward, who was a rector of the church from 1853-1888.

Born at Burnham in Norfolk on the 8th of December 1822, Rev'd Ward's christening became significant by claiming his grandfather's title. Inside the church itself you will see a plaque dedicated to his years of servitude to the church.

You will also find that on two oak panels are the names of the other rectors who have served the church, one of these unfortunately died from the Black Death after caring for his parishioners.

Another however served as not only a rector but was also a local

hero after helping the community in 1838 when the epidemic of small pox had spread. The Rev'd Richard Boodle is seen on the memorial panel vaccinating a parishioner as he undertook this task as

there was no resident doctor until many years later.

It's also worth noting, if you find yourself walking around the church grounds, there is a "Radstock Heritage Trail". You can follow, this will lead you to the Rev'd Nelson and his wife's graves. There is work being undertaken to have the churchyard cleared, to allow easier access to the grounds. In the meantime, I highly recommend when you have the chance to explore for yourself, it's a real marvel.

And thank you to Sally who was kind enough to show me around the grounds and give me a deeper insight into our local church and

let me share with you all that I have learned.

Todd A Phillips