Church Of St Leodegarius And Attached Grave Enclosure

Church of St Leodegarius and Attached Grave Enclosure

A parish church with attached grave enclosure in Basford, Nottingham. The building combines work from the 12th to 19th centuries, with significant Victorian restoration and rebuilding.

The earliest element is the chancel, dating from around 1180, which was restored in 1900. The south arcade dates from around 1250, followed by the south aisle and south porch, both from around 1340. The clerestory was added in the late 14th century. The north aisle and north arcade were rebuilt in 1858-59 by architect Arthur Wilson as part of major restoration work. Following its collapse, the tower was rebuilt between 1859 and 1861 by Thomas Allom.

The church is built in Early English and Decorated architectural styles. The exterior employs rock-faced stone and ashlar with ashlar dressings, featuring steep pitched slate roofs with moulded coped parapets and gables. The plan comprises a chancel, chapel, vestry, nave with aisles, porches, and a west tower.

The exterior features plinth, sill band, and buttresses throughout. The chancel has three lancet windows to the east with an oval window above, two lancets to the north and four to the south. The north chapel has a single lancet. A flat-roofed vestry to the south has a three-light flat-headed window and an east-facing door. The nave clerestory contains five small cusped windows on each side. The south aisle, comprising four bays, has three flat-headed windows of two and three lights with label moulds to the south, and pointed arched two-light windows with hood moulds at each end, the west window being a later renewal. The south porch has a chamfered pointed arched doorway with hood mould and two-light windows on each side. Inside the porch are a roll-moulded inner doorway and a renewed roof on reset corbels. Several reset memorial tablets from the late 18th and early 19th centuries are visible. An ashlar table tomb with wrought-iron spearhead railing, dating from around 1800, is attached to the east side.

The north aisle has five single lancets, with a pointed arched door to the west of the east window. The east end has a single lancet and the west end has two lancets. The north porch features a moulded pointed arched doorway with double shafts and single lancets on each side. Inside, it contains a common rafter roof and a moulded round-arched doorway with a panelled door from the 18th century.

The square west tower rises in three stages and has angle buttresses to the lower stages, string courses, a corbel table and pierced balustrade with octagonal pinnacles. The lower stage has a pointed arched two-light window to the left and a small door accessing the stairway. The middle stage has a single lancet on three sides. The bell stage features two pointed arched openings of two lights with shafts on each side.

Interior elements are rendered throughout. The chancel has a double chamfered arch with triple shaft responds and an early 20th-century traceried wooden screen. It retains a panelled dado and wagon roof. The east end contains three stained glass windows dated 1901 and an oval window above. The south side has a cusped piscina and plain windows. The adjoining vestry contains a roll-moulded priest's door from around 1200 with double shafts and hood mould, together with a blocked two-light window to the west. The north side has a pointed arched organ opening and plain windows.

The nave is rendered with a panelled wagon roof featuring ribs and corbels. The arcades, comprising five bays, have filleted quatrefoil columns from around 1180 and capitals from around 1250, with double chamfered arches, hood moulds and responds. The west end has a similar double chamfered tower arch with clustered shafts and responds, above which is a loop. The tower chamber has a cross beam ceiling and moulded framed panelling. A stained glass west window dated 1902 lights this space.

The aisles have arch-braced lean-to roofs and panelled wainscotting from the 19th century. The south aisle has a cusped piscina to the east and a stained glass south-west window by Kempe dated 1910. Other windows contain stained glass from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The north aisle has a round-arched north door and a mid-19th-century stained glass window. The east end has a double chamfered arch with traceried wooden screen opening into the organ chamber.

Memorials include brass and marble tablets and a slate tablet from 1776, plus an ashlar and slate tablet with an angel from the late 17th century. Fittings include an octagonal ashlar pulpit from 1859, an octagonal 19th-century font with traceried ogee cover, and a brass eagle lectern from 1905. The church contains 19th-century chairs and traceried panelled stalls.