Details
ST 66 SW CHELWOOD C.P. CHELWOOD VILLAGE
4/8 Church of St. Leonard
21.9.60
G.V. II*
Parish church. Norman origin, C14, tower rebuilt 1772, largely restored and
rebuilt c.1860 by G.J. Norton. Sandstone and limestone rubble, limestone
dressings, tower of limestone ashlar on sandstone plinth, slate roofs (hipped on
tower) with raised coped verges and cross finials to nave and chancel. West
tower, nave, north porch, south aisle, chancel and south vestry. Mainly
Decorated style. 2-stage tower has 2-light west window with pointed arch and
hood mould, 2nd stage has paired trefoil-headed windows to north, south and west
with roundel above and wooden bell-louvres; moulded string courses, gargoyle and
water chute at each corner, parapet and coping, roof has small lucarne to each
side and cockerel weathervane. 3-bay nave has to north two 2-light windows with
trefoil heads, roundel, hood mould and relieving arch, central gabled porch with
pointed arched opening, stone bench to each side, pointed arched inner door with
chamfered and stopped surround, decorative strap hinges to door, trefoil-headed
image niche above, common rafter and collar roof. Aisle has similar 2-light west
window, three 2-light windows to south without roundel, weathered buttress to
right, roof pitched at different angle from nave. Chancel has 3-light east
window with 3 roundels and hood mould, to north 2-light window to right, weathered
buttress to left, north vestry has similar 2-light east window, single light and
pointed arched door to south, stack to south east. Interior: tall pointed tower
arch, chamfered, 3-bay south arcade with cylindrical columns on plain plinths,
C14 corbel east and west, vine leaves over a female head to east, fig leaves to
west; nave has roof of common rafters, collars with lower braces, upper scissors
trusses supporting purlin. South aisle has common rafter roof, one purlin,
arched-brace with pierced wooden panel rising from south arcade, triangular arch
to vestry, vestry has roof as in aisle. Chancel has arched-brace and collar
roof, moulded collar purlin with one carved angel at west end, braces rising from
wooden corbels on wall-plate; high pointed chamfered chancel arch, pointed arched
opening to vestry, filled by organ, aumbry to north, elaborate carved stone and
marble C19 reredos. Fittings: Norman font in nave, tiny volutes at edges and
top frieze; late C19 pews, pulpit and screen across south aisle arch; stone
hatchment in tower recording gifts to the parish by William Adams, 1815, by Reeves
and Son of Bath; wooden board in tower from Incorporated Society for Church
buildings. In chancel, marble tablet to Rev. Richard Whalley 1816, by Wood of
Bristol. Monuments in tower: marble tablet to Mrs. Elizabeth Cottle, spinster
of Nevis, West Indies, 1838, by H. Wood of Bristol; neo-Greek marble tablet to
Rev. Richard Warner, 1834, by Reeves and Son of Bath; marble tablet to Mrs.
Rebecca Warner, 1844, by Reeves of Bath; stone tablet with cherubs to Thomas
Peterson, 1771; stone tablet to Richard Colter, 1744; stone tablet to Abraham
James, 1754; slate tablet with gold-painted cherubs to Roger Lyde, 1760; marble
monument with draped urn to Martha Adams, 1795, by Reeves and Son of Bath.
Fragments of C16 Flemish glass in south aisle windows, with inscriptions in Old
French, other windows lattice glazed. (Sources: Pevsner, N.: Buildings of
England : North Somerset and Bristol. 1958).
Listing NGR: ST6356361860
