Situated near the centre of the village, the Clipsham stone church of St. Nicholas is mostly of the 13^th and 14^th centuries. The original 12^th c. church was enlarged with the chancel extended and the tower added in the 13^th century, when the aisles were probably added too. In the 14^th c. the aisles were redone and the clerestory was constructed. William Butterfield rebuilt the porch in 1851 and in 1855 the vestry was added off the N wall of the chancel. The S doorway, a section of exterior string course and the base of the baptismal font are from the Romanesque period.

Cottesmore is listed in Domesday Book as land belonging to King William I but there is no mention of a church here in 1086. When King William II granted the manor of Greetham to the Beaumont/Newburgh family as part of the earldom of Warwick in 1090, he also gave them half of the manor of Cottesmore, which eventually became a separate manor itself. In 1228-29 the advowson is noted as being in control of the earls of Warwick from whom it descended until the Dissolution. Another early reference to a church here comes in the mentioning of a “Robert, vicar of Cottismor” who was a witness to a property grant in the 13^th century (PRO B.1202).

The S doorway is not in-situ but was likely relocated to its current position in the 13^th c. when the S aisle was added to the 12^th c. church. This may account for the nook shafts not being centered on their bases. Each individual stone that makes up the jambs is carved with a single chevron; however, on the east jamb is a longer section of a single stone which carries three chevrons and the excellent condition of the surface suggests that this section is a replacement. The label too, in its fine condition and unusual hollow chamfer stops, is a replacement.

The VCH suggests that the pilaster buttress on the W exterior wall of the nave was originally part of a clasping buttress at the NW angle of the 12^th c. aisle-less nave.

The square base of the font was allegedly used as a mounting block to get on horses at Cottesmore Hall before its return to the church. The consistency of the stylized treatment of the nose and eyes and the small slit of the mouth suggests that all the figural ornament on the base was carved by a single craftsperson. There is also a depiction of the Crucifixion on the font at St. Peter, Coleshill in Warwickshire. Given the connection between St. Nicholas, Cottesmore and the Earls of Warwick, perhaps this suggests an iconographic influence, though the style of representation is vastly different between Coleshill font and Cottesmore font base.