Saint-Nicolas is a small and modest church – you get this impression all the more when you look at the mighty neighbouring church of Plomion, just over a kilometre away, which is easily visible from the really small village of Bancigny.

It is a very pretty little church that has obviously been recently renovated. It was originally built in the 16th century, half in white stone and half in brick, giving an amazing mosaic covering the towers and the nave.

The two towers protecting the entrance were greatly shortened at the beginning of the 20th century, which can be easily seen on postcards from that time. The left of these towers has since been rebuilt, giving Saint-Nicolas a strange asymmetry, but one that makes it all the more worth seeing.

Above the entrance is a stained glass window, a work by the artist Jerœn Dykhuizen from 1992, illustrating the creation of the world.

After the church was closed on our first visit, it is now probably always open during the day, as we discovered on our return visit in October 2023. This is also confirmed by the Thiérache tourism website. We were therefore able to visit the interior as well.

Particularly worth seeing is a baptismal font from the 12th century, which is one of the most beautiful in Thiérache and was added to the list of historical monuments on 20 December 1911.

Above this baptismal font, three small polychrome wooden statues of Christ on the Cross, the Virgin Mary and Saint John are fixed to the wall. They come from an old 16th century glory beam.

Incidentally, there is now a very nice picnic area on the south wall of the choir outside, which we enjoyed using.