Church Of St Mary

SO 4698-4798 LEEBOTWOOD C.P. LEEBOTWOOD

11/55 Church of St. Mary 13.6.58

• II*

Parish church. C13 with tower and other alterations of 1829. Roughly coursed red and grey sandstone rubble with grey sandstone ashlar dressings; C19 slate roof. Nave and chancel in one,with west tower. Tower: 2 stages, with offset to belfry, and plain parapet with string and coping; louvred paired stubby chamfered lancet belfry openings, west window with 3 chamfered lancets of equal height and intersecting leaded tracery, and pointed-arched west doorway with boarded door. Nave and chancel: coved stone eaves cornice, and parapeted gable end to west with kneelers, coping and cross at apex; south side: pilaster buttress to left; central triple chamfered lancets and pair of chamfered lancets to right, flanking probably C16 moulded Tudor-arched priest's doorway off-centre to right with boarded door; partly blocked C13 chamfered-arched south doorway to left with inserted leaded window; north side: pair of chamfered lancets off-centre to right; east-end: stepped triple chamfered lancets and small C13 chamfered lancet in apex of gable above. Interior: 5-bay roof, mainly C19 but one C17 truss in chancel and C15 moulded arch-braced collar truss with carved dragons in spandrels; pairs of chamfered purlins and elaborately cusped wind braces in one bay forming foiled shape; C19 billet frieze; chamfered tower arch without imposts. Fittings include: west gallery with C16 or C17 roll-moulded beam and C19 balustrade with stick balusters; early C19 three-bay chancel screen between second and third bays with square Tuscan columns and pilasters without entasis; panelled box pews of 1776,ramped up to screen,with H-hinges, names of farms, and some reused C17 fluted panels; early C18 hexagonal wooden pulpit with tall raised and fielded panels and moulded cornice; reader's desk and clerk's pew probably also of 1776; circular stone font of c.1843 with moulded base; late C19 ashlar reredos with carved frieze and pierced cresting; probably early C19 altar rails on 3 sides with stick balusters; side benches to sanctuary. Stained glass: east window of c.1854, probably by David Evans of Shrewsbury. Monuments: fine series of C18 and early C19 monuments to the Corbett family (Longnor Hall q.v.); especially notable is large tablet monument to Sir Uvedale Corbett (d.1701) with gadrooned base, flanking columns, and swan- necked pediment with 2 reclining figures. Medieval wall painting on north wall of nave. A church on the site is first recorded in 1183. The church is notable for the completeness of its C18 and early C19 fittings and monuments. V.C.H., Vol. VIII, pp.104-6; B.0.E., p.164; D.H.S. Cranage, An architectural account of the churches of'Shropshire, Part 6, p.498.

Listing NGR: SO4706198673