Details
SUNNINGWELL
SP4900
17/142 Church of St. Leonard
09/02/66
GV II*
Church. C13: late C15 tower, south transept and fenestration: west porch built
1571 for Bishop Jewel. Restored 1870 and 1902. Uncoursed limestone rubble with
ashlar dressings; lead roof, except old tiles to chancel roof. Chancel and nave
with south transept, transeptal north tower and heptagonal west porch. Late C13
three-light east window: 2-bay side walls of chancel have C15 ogee-headed
windows, divided by offset buttress to south. C15 south transept has 3-light
cinquefoil-headed windows except early C16 three-light segmental-arched west
window. 2-bay south wall of nave has similar C15 windows with restored mullions
and heads flanking blocked C13 two-light window without mullion: north wall of
nave has similar C15 windows. C15 three-stage transeptal north tower: C15 one-,
2- and 3-light windows and crenellated parapet with gargoyles. West porch of
1571 in Gothic and Classical style: Tudor-arched doorway with classical
entablature and cinquefoil-headed lights are divided by unfluted Ionic columns
surmounted by classical entablature. Interior: reredos, piscina and mosaic floor
of c.1870. Fine medieval-style floor tiles depict Revelations Chapter 4. C16
collar truss with king stud, and chancel arch of c.1902. Nave has Jacobean
pulpit, C15 octagonal pulpit and C17 bench-ends with huge poppyheads similar to
those at Radley Church (q.v.). C16 five-bay roof has arch braces springing from
vertical side struts into which are tenoned hollow-chamfered purlins with jowled
ends. C15 hollow-chamfered arch to north tower, which has narrow C15 doorway to
stairs. Similar double-chamfered arch to north transept which has C15 five-bay
parclose screen with foiled heads and early C18 panelled double-leaf doors.
Monuments: memorial reset in chancel floor to Margaret Fell, widow of Dean of
Christ Church, d.1657, and others of the Fell family. Late C17 plain oval wall
tablet to Mary, daughter of Sir Thomas Throckmorton, d.1632, and her children:
late C17 epitaph to their in-laws, the Baskervilles. Plain wall tablets in nave
to Blower family (early C18), Joseph Barnett, rector, d.1796, and Caroline
Stonehouse d.1810. Stained glass: mainly 1902. Fine east window by J.P. Seddon,
of The Adoration of the Shepherds and the Magi in Pre-Raphaelite style. The
porch was built for Bishop Jewel to commemorate his incumbency at Sunningwell
Parish before becoming Bishop of Salisbury.
(V.C.H.: Berkshire, Vol.IV, p.423; Buildings of England: Berkshire, p.234-5;
Bodleian Library M.S. Top. Berkshire. C51, no.108 for south view of church in
early C19; National Buildings Record).
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
Legacy System number:
249819
Legacy System:
LBS
Sources
Books and journals
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
End of official list entry
