The Communion table within the nave of St Nicholas Church, designed by Dennis Huntley, is an outstanding work of craftsmanship.
The oak altar is simple in appearance. Although massive in size, its open structure means that it doesn't detract attention away from the rest of the architecture of the church. The table is constructed of two layers of oak rather than 3. The expectation is that over the decades the oak will shift and flex like a living being. Echoing the medieval tradition of embedding a relic in the body of the altar, the table between its layers of oak contains a very personal message from Dennis Huntley.
Perhaps the most startling aspect of the altar is the jagged cruciform natural wound in the wood of the tabletop. Huntley deliberately chose the imperfect wood to echo the wounds inflicted on Christ on the cross. That visible physical scar reminds those who eat the bread from the table that the imperfect is made perfect by God.
Dennis Huntley died in December 2021 aged 93.