Details
SP 79 SW THORPE LANGTON THORPE LANGTON
2/66 Chapel of St Leonard
(formerly listed as
7.12.66 Church of St Nicholas)
- II
Parish church. C13, late C13 tower, chancel aisles and arcades rebuilt early
C14, clerestory added late C15. Restored 1867 by Joseph Goddard of Leicester.
Roof repaired 1914. C19 vestry. West tower, nave, north aisle with north porch,
south aisle, chancel, vestry. Coursed ironstone rubble with ashlared limestone
dressings. Lead and plain tile roofs. Heavily moulded plinth. Coped parapets.
Angle-gabled buttresses with set-offs. West tower, 3 stages with broach spire.
2nd and 3rd stage bands. Decorative cornice. Angle buttresses at north-west and
south-west corners. West elevation has modernised doorway with moulded,
shouldered flat arch, and plank door. Above, a C13 lancet with chamfered jambs
and hoodmould. Above, a 2-light pointed arch bell-opening, the lights divided by
a single shaft with moulded capital and base, with a hoodmould. North, south and
east elevations have similar bell-openings. South elevation has C19 clock face in
2nd stage. Spire has corner pinnacles and two tiers of alternating lucarnes.
North aisle has north porch added by Josepth Goddard in 1868. Plain tile roof
with coped gables with kneelers and finial. Heavily moulded doorway with engaged
shafts and hoodmould with headstops. East and west walls have a single, small
window each. North doorway has double-chamfered arch with a plank door. To west
of porch, a 2-light window with reticulated tracery and hoodmould with headstops.
East of porch, a 3-light window with intersecting tracery and hoodmould with head-
stops. North aisle has 3-light east window with reticulated tracery and hoodmould
with headstops. Chancel, north wall has a 2-light window with reticulated tracery
and hoodmoulds with plain stops and to east, a 2-light window with Y-tracery, and
hoodmould. 4-light east window with flowing tracery, cross finial to gable.
Clerestory over both nave and chancel has five 2-light windows with cusped heads
set in rectangular frames, with straight headmoulds with returned stops. 3
windows light the nave, 2, the chancel. South aisle, south doorway has moulded
jambs with engaged shafts, hoodmould with headstops, and plank door. To west, a
2-light window with intersecting tracery and hoodmould with headstops. To east, a
3-light window with intersecting tracery and hoodmould with headstops. South
aisle has 2-light east window with reticulated tracery and hoodmould with plain
stops. Chancel, south wall has 2-light window with geometric tracery and hood-
mould with plain stops, and to east, a 2-light window with Y-tracery and hoodmould
with plain stops. South side of clerestory, similar to north. Late C19 vestry
between south aisle and tower, with plain tile roof, coping, stone chimney,and
2-light west window. Interior: 3-bay nave arcades with double chamfered, pointed
arches and early C14 quatrefoil piers with moulded capitals and bases. North-east
pier and responds, capitals have ballflower decoration. Triple-chamfered tower
arch with hoodmould and headstops and piers with capitals and bases. Roofline of
earlier nave visible above. North aisle has reset corbel heads on either side,
above doorway. South one has reset corbels of c1200 on south side of arcade and
on either side of south doorway and south-west window. Rood stair doorway at east
end. Chancel has moulded string throughout. All windows have hoods, the north-
east window with headstops. Early C14 piscina and damaged sedilia. Late C15
octagonal bowl and stem font, carved with foliage and tracery. Polygonal pulpit
appears to incorporate panels of c1500, otherwise late C19. Pews and screen are
late C19. Organ provided by Hanbury charity in 1952. Stained glass in east
window of north aisle depicting farming scenes, to memory of James Kendall
(1933-69). East window of south aisle has glass to memory of George Kendall
(1847-1926). Glass in east window by Heaton, Butler & Payne, c1868. Roofs
restored in 1868, 1914, 1978. Elaborate carving, brattishing and bossing on
moulded C15 tie beams in nave and chancel. Late C19 tile floors.
VCH, V, 207-8.
Listing NGR: SP7401992436
