Church Of St Leonard

Church of St Leonard

Parish church dating from the 14th century, restored in 1863 by William Smith. The church is built of coursed limestone and sandstone with ashlar dressings and lead roofs. It comprises a west tower with spire, nave, north and south aisles, south porch, and chancel.

The exterior displays the characteristic features of 14th-century Gothic architecture. A continuous moulded plinth runs around the building with buttresses featuring set-offs. The west tower rises in three stages with two string courses, a cornice, and an ashlar broach spire. Angle buttresses support the tower, and the west elevation contains a double-moulded, pointed arch doorway with hoodmould and double plank doors. Above, in the third stage, is a chamfered, pointed arch two-light louvred bell-opening with hoodmould. The octagonal spire is decorated with two-light louvred lucarnes with pointed hoods on four faces — one larger and three smaller single-light versions — and is topped with a weathercock.

The nave features a coped parapet with a cross finial on the east gable and a chimney stack on the east wall. A clerestory of five two-light windows in chamfered square frames pierces the wall. The north aisle has a coped parapet with two crocketed corner finials and a blank quatrefoil frieze along the parapet. The west wall of the north aisle contains a chamfered, pointed arch three-light window with flowing tracery and hoodmould with headstops. The north wall displays, from west to east, a diagonal buttress, a moulded, pointed arch doorway with hoodmould and plank door, another buttress, a moulded, pointed arch three-light window with reticulated tracery and hoodmould, another buttress, another similar three-light window, and a buttress with a small trefoiled niche with fluting above, rising to a crocketed finial. The east wall of the north aisle has a moulded, pointed arch four-light window with reticulated tracery.

The south aisle has an embattled parapet and a south-west diagonal buttress with crocketed finial. The west wall contains a moulded, pointed arch three-light window with intersecting tracery and hoodmould. The south wall displays, from west to east, a diagonal buttress followed by a restored two-storey south porch with concave cornice and diagonal buttresses. The porch features a wide, double-chamfered, pointed arch doorway with hoodmould and 19th-century double gates, with a two-light window above flanked by two shallow trefoiled niches with crockets. The porch interior is vaulted with chamfered ribs. A heavily moulded, pointed arch south doorway with 19th-century double doors decorated with tracery opens from the porch. To the east is a chamfered, pointed arch three-light window with flowing tracery and hoodmould, followed by a buttress, then another similar window with hoodmould with left headstop, and a buttress with a small trefoiled niche and finial above. The east wall of the south aisle has a moulded, pointed arch three-light window with reticulated tracery and hoodmould.

The chancel has an embattled parapet with a cross finial on the east gable. The north wall displays, from west to east, a moulded, pointed arch three-light window with intersecting tracery and hoodmould, a priest's doorway with chamfered four-centred arch and flat hoodmould with plank door, a moulded four-centred arch three-light window with trefoiled lights and hoodmould, another similar three-light window with cinquefoiled lights, and a buttress. The south wall shows a moulded four-centred arch three-light window with trefoiled lights and hoodmould, followed by another similar three-light window with cinquefoiled lights, then a buttress. The east wall has a moulded four-centred arch five-light window with cinquefoiled lights and hoodmould, flanked by a buttress.

Interior

The interior contains a triple-chamfered, pointed tower arch. The nave has four-bay arcades with double-chamfered, pointed arches, a continuous hoodmould, and tall polygonal piers. A 19th-century double-chamfered, pointed chancel arch with hoodmould and headstops is decorated with an inner arch in polychromatic stonework on moulded corbels.

The north aisle has a continuous hoodmould linking all three windows. The south aisle contains a chamfered, pointed arch doorway with plank door leading to the upper storey of the porch, and a low sepulchre with double-moulded ogee arch above a small trefoiled niche. A window sill sedile and trefoiled piscina occupy the south-east corner. The east window has a hoodmould with headstops.

The chancel contains ogee-arched and crocketed sedilia with crocketed finials, and a piscina in the south-east corner. A late 19th-century carved marble reredos stands behind the altar. A 19th-century octagonal drum font on an octagonal plinth occupies the central space. Other 19th-century additions include altar rails, chairs, desk, stalls, organ, pulpit, south aisle altar, and lectern. 19th-century pews contain re-used 16th-century bench ends in the nave, decorated with tracery and branches, and 16th-century panels re-used as bench fronts in the south aisle. An 18th-century parish chest is also present.

Monuments and fittings include a 16th-century alabaster altar tomb in the chancel with a recumbent effigy in armour with helmet crowned with a saracen's head and a lion at the feet, surrounded by shields. The marginal inscription reads: "Here lies buried Michael Poultney Esq; sometime Lord of Misterton and Poultney, who departed out this world 22 May AD 1567, on whose soul the Lord hath taken mercy." Another alabaster altar tomb nearby has a black top and shields in strapwork cartouches on the sides, inscribed to the memory of John Poultney (died 1637) with eighteen lines of commemorative poetry. A mid-19th-century marble wall memorial occupies the south wall, while an early 19th-century marble wall memorial and a late 19th-century marble wall memorial are on the north wall. A large World War I stone memorial with a figure at each end is on the north wall of the north aisle, with a World War II wall memorial below. A late 19th-century wall plaque referring to the donation of the organ is also on the north wall.

The roofs date from the 19th century and feature brattished trusses. The flooring comprises stone slabs and 19th-century polychromatic tiles. 19th-century stained glass fills the windows.