Church Of St Leonard

The Church of St Leonard, located in Loftus High Street, was largely rebuilt in 1811 by Ignatius Bonomi, on the site of an earlier medieval church. The chancel was rebuilt in 1888 by William Watson, and the nave was substantially rebuilt in 1900 by Clark and Moscrop of Darlington. The church is constructed of dressed sandstone with a plain clay tile roof, stone gable copings, and a shallow-pitched metal roof over the north aisle. The building comprises a four-bay nave with a north aisle, a two-bay chancel, a north-east organ chamber, a vestry, and a west tower.

The four-stage west tower features a round-headed south doorway with a six-panel door and a panelled tympanum, flat surround, and keystone. A round-headed stair window with Gothick mullions, voussoirs, keystone, and impost bands is present on the west side. Louvred bell openings are paired and round-headed, with clock faces below on the west and north faces. The tower is topped with embattled parapets and ramped angle finials, along with a cock weather vane. The nave and chancel are in a quasi-Perpendicular style, with bays defined by gabled buttresses. Basket-arched windows with hoodmoulds and a string course below the sills are found on the south and east sides. The north aisle has chamfered sills to the rectangular windows, whilst the clerestory windows are similar. Round-headed cross windows feature in the west wall of the nave, and a blocked semicircular gallery light is visible in the south-west wall. An east cross finial adorns the east end.

Inside, a prominent open-well staircase rises within the tower, notable for its moulded stick balusters, fluted square newels, and ramped handrails. A pointed, double hollow-chamfered north arcade displays short octagonal piers without capitals or bases. Openings in a similar style connect the organ chamber to the nave and chancel. The nave is covered by a panelled wagon roof with Tudor rose bosses, with brattishing to the wall plates in the chancel. The north aisle has a panelled roof. Stained glass is set in the east window, dating from around 1910. Encaustic tiled floors are featured in the chancel and sanctuary. A carved oak Perpendicular-style rood screen, embellished with traceried panels and figures of angels, is suspended from an iron-rod beam. Fan vaulting connects the beam and screen. The oak reredos, dated 1926, features a corniced canopy carved with angels, traceried arches, drop tracery, vine ornament to the cornice, and foliate brattishing. A mid-19th century octagonal stone font, shaped like a chalice, stands within the church, with a panelled bowl ornamented with crosses and an egg-and-dart moulded rim. A marble monument from 1844 by T. Earle to Sir Robert Dundas is set into the north wall of the chancel. An ancient drum font, now on a modern stem, is located outside the north face of the tower.