St. Nicholas' Church, Leicester

St Nicholas' Church is an Anglican parish church and the oldest place of worship in Leicester. It is situated next to the Jewry Wall, the remnant of the city's Roman baths. Parts of the church date back to 880 A.D., and a recent architectural survey suggested possible Roman building work.

The tower is Norman. By 1825, the church was in an extremely poor condition, and plans were made for its demolition. Instead, due to lack of funds for the construction of the planned replacement church, it was extensively renovated between 1875 and 1884, including the building of a new north aisle.

Renovation continued into the 20th century. A 15th-century octagonal font from the redundant Church of Saint Michael the Greater, Stamford was transferred to Saint Nicholas.

In the 1950s, Saint Nicholas was directed to the spiritual needs of local university students. In recent times, as a city centre church without a large residential parish, Saint Nicholas became an Inclusive Church, with a mission to welcome people of diverse sexualities, identities, disabilities, origins, and socioeconomic situations. As a result, it has acquired a significant LGBTQ worshipper population and displays pride flags.

Today, the church lies just outside the city's inner ring road. Despite being some distance from the campus, it is the official church of the University of Leicester.

The organ was built in 1890 by the local firm of J. Porritt and incorporates pipework from an earlier organ by an unknown builder dating from the 1830s. The church has three bells, dated 1617, 1656 and 1710, that were taken down from the tower in 1949 and replaced with one large bell. Because the tower is not very strong, they were re-hung for stationery chiming. They were returned to the church in July 2002 and were rung to welcome Queen Elizabeth II on her Jubilee Visit to Leicester.