Church of St Leonards

Details

SO 75 SE COTHERIDGE CP CHURCH LANE (east side)

5/25 Church of St Leonards 29.7.59

II*

Parish church. Early C12, altered early C15 and restored in 1684 for Rowland Berkeley. Part plastered sandstone, part brick, tiled roofs; bell tower is timber-framed, part plastered, part weatherboarded with slate roof. 2 bay chancel with former south chapel, now vestry, nave and south tower. South tower Added in C15. 4 stages; lower 2 stages are plastered, upper 2 stages weatherboarded; lower stage has C17 10-light chamfered mullioned window in west wall; south wall faced with tongued and grooved oak planks and has a central pointed arched doorway; C15 planked door with moulded cover strips and wrought iron hinges. Above on the second stage are 2 small lights with a single diagonal mullion. The belfry stage has paired, louvred bell chamber openings and pyramidal roof. Chancel east wall has 2 original pilaster buttresses and C15 diagonal buttress at its southern angle; early C15 east window for 4 cusped lights. South wall has 2 original pilaster buttresses flanked by a C13 cusped lancet to the west, and a C13 2-light window to the east. Nave north elevation has 3 original pilaster buttresses and a C17 diagonal brick buttress; 2 C18 windows with cambered heads and leaded lights set within C12 window openings and a blocked doorway opposing the main southern entrance door. West elevation has C14 corner buttresses and a central original pilaster buttress with a C19 pointed arched window above and C18 windows with cambered heads each side in the original openings; all windows have leaded lights. South elevation has 3 original pilaster buttresses and a C14 buttress at the east end; late C14 3-light window and an original lancet, enclosed by tower. Vestry Built in 1620 as a chapel. Brick in Old English bond. Parapetted gable ends with moulded capings; 3 clasping buttresses to north wall; square-headed 3-light east window has label mould with returns; planked timber door in west elevation. Interior Wall dividing nave and chancel has a central chancel arch enriched with chevron moulding, on spiral columns decorated with a beaded spiral band and having pointed scalloped capitals and moulded bases; on either side of the arch are window openings, the north window has a semi-circular head and the south window a 4-centred arched head; both windows have leaded lights. The chancel roof is probably C14 having a central king-post and swept wind-braces; nave has a barrel vaulted roof and moulded cornice; the vestry roof has a central raking strut truss. The timber-framework of the south tower is constructed at its lower 3 stages around 2 pairs of massive cruck-like blades, which intersect at second stage level;2 very long slightly curved braces cross from first floor to third stage level, intersecting just above the main blades. The wall-frame at the lowest stage is infilled with tongue-and- groove boarding; the second stage is of 2 rows of close-set vertical studding with swept braces; the third stage is of 2 rows of large, rectangular panels having swept and straight braces, totalling 5 panels from sill to wall-plate beneath belfy. The belfy is smaller in section and composed of small square and rectangular panels with straight braces, 3 from the third stage to wall- plate. The interior walls and ceiling of the nave, chancel and chapel are plastered; some of the plaster in the nave has been removed to expose fragments of medieval wall paintings on the north wall and wall above the chancel arch. The chancel has a C17 arched doorway to vestry; C15 and C19 floor tiles; piscina with arched head; a C17 hexagonal oak panelled pulpit and tester; dado of C17 panelling behind altar and box pews made up of similar panelling; late C17 altar rails with turned balusters; 4 wall memorials of mid C19 date, the 3 on the north wall to the Berkeley family. Mid C19 font. C17 painted glass in vestry window of the arms of the Berkeley family with a label and crest of a bear's head, razed and muzzled. At the time of survey (June 1984) the nave and south tower were out of use, apparently due to their deteriorating condition. (VCH, BoE).

Listing NGR: SO7867054739

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

151696

Legacy System:

LBS

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