Church Of St Leonard And Attached Boundary Wall

Church of St Leonard and Attached Boundary Wall

This is a parish church of considerable architectural complexity, with building phases spanning from around 1200 to the late 20th century. The chancel dates to around 1200 and was remodelled in the 14th century. The nave and tower were constructed in the late 14th century, and the north aisle dates to around 1500. The Willoughby mausoleum and south aisle were added between 1885 and 1887, designed by Charles Hodgson Fowler, who also oversaw major restoration work in those years. Further restoration took place between 1968 and 1970. The mausoleum was converted to a south chapel in 1924.

The building is constructed of coursed squared stone and ashlar, with ashlar dressings and slate roofs. It comprises a chancel, south chapel, nave with clerestory, aisles, a west tower, and spire.

The exterior features a plinth, sill bands, coped parapets and gables with crosses. Diagonal and angle buttresses support the walls. The chancel has a traceried east window of three lights with hood mould, and on each side a traceried flat-headed window of two lights. The south chapel has a four-centred arched east window of three lights with hood mould, and to the south two flat-headed windows of two lights. A round-arched priest's door is present.

The north aisle, comprising ten bays, has renewed flat-headed untraceried windows of two and three lights. To the east is a four-centred arched door flanked to the left by a small original window. In the eighth bay is a moulded pointed arched doorway, now blocked. The end walls have single windows. The south aisle has three bays, with two flat-headed windows of three lights to the east and a moulded doorway to the west. The west end has two single lancets.

The nave has three bays, with a traceried flat-headed window of two lights to the south-west. To its left is a narrow doorway. Two flat-headed clerestory windows of three lights are positioned above, with two small clerestory windows of two lights on the north side.

The square west tower rises in two stages with small diagonal buttresses and a crenellated parapet. Double chamfered pointed arched openings face north and south, now glazed with late 20th-century windows. A clock is set into the west face. The bell stage has traceried flat-headed openings of two lights on each side. An octagonal spire rises from the tower, set back and fitted with a tier of lucarnes.

The attached boundary wall borders Wollaton Road for approximately 60 metres, constructed of coursed squared stone with rounded coping.

The interior is rendered throughout. The chancel contains at its west end a moulded span beam with arch braces and corbels, supplemented by an original beam. The roof is 19th-century arch-braced on corbels. The east end features a stained glass window of 1886 and an unusual carved wooden reredos of around 1660 with columns and broken segmental pediment. The north side contains a 19th-century doorway and a large monument with an early 20th-century stained glass window above. The south side has an ogee piscina and single sedilia dating to the 14th century, with a stained glass window of 1922.

The south chapel has a renewed low-pitched roof with plain windows and a roll-moulded doorway to the south.

The nave has a restored low-pitched roof. The north arcade comprises five bays with double-chamfered arches supported by unusual quatrefoil piers. The east and west bays are narrower, with sections of wall substituting for piers. The south arcade has three bays, with double-chamfered arches to the west above a quatrefoil pier, and a cove-moulded arch to the east, both restored in the 19th century. To the west of the arcade is a 19th-century stained glass window of two lights. The west end contains a 19th-century pointed arched doorway.

The north aisle features a low-pitched roof, largely original, with a plaster ceiling at the east end. A 19th-century door opens to the chancel, and a 20th-century door leads to an adjoining church hall. A 20th-century stained glass east window is present. The south aisle has a renewed roof and double-chamfered arch to the south chapel, with two early 20th-century stained glass windows. The south door has been altered to form a window.

Fittings include an octagonal font, a wooden skeleton pulpit, a brass lectern of 1886, and mid-20th-century stalls and benches.

The church is notable for its unusually numerous monuments, particularly to the Willoughby family. These include a canopied recess with brasses, slab, and cadaver to Richard Willoughby (1471), and an arched recess with tomb chest and effigies to Henry Willoughby and his four wives (1528). The chest features openwork arches and figures, with a cadaver below. Later Willoughby monuments include a tablet with urns and vases of 1800 by Sir John Bacon, and another with angels of 1835 by Sir Richard Westmacott. A tablet with strapwork of 1614 commemorates Robert Smythson, designer of Wollaton Hall.