Church Of St Leonard

WILLEY MAIN STREET SP48SE (East side) 8/30 Church of St. Leonard 06/10/60 - II*

Small church. Nave and tower late C14/C15. Chancel rebuilt, vestry and south porch added and parapets renewed in 1884 at the expense of the Reverend F.M. Payler. Tower and part of nave of sandstone ashlar. Remainder of sandstone rubble with limestone dressings. Chancel and porch have moulded cornices, stone slate roofs and coped gable parapets with gablet kneelers. Nave roof is hidden by embattled parapet. Chancel, nave, west tower, south porch, north vestry. 2-bay chancel, 3-bay nave. Chancel has north and south buttresses flush with east wall. 3-light east window has curvilinear tracery. Cross finial. Moulded trefoiled-arch south doorway has hood mould with shield stops, and plank door. Cinqfoiled eastern lancet to north and south. 2-light south-west window has simple tracery. Vestry has quoins. North side has paired segmental pointed lancets. Gable apex has round chimney stack. Chamfered segmental-arched west doorway with plank door. Half-octagonal rood loft stair turret between vestry and nave has renewed upper part with embattled parapet. Nave has splay plinth. South side has 3 buttresses of 2 offsets. Porch has buttresses flush with front. Doorway of 2 run-out chamfered orders has hood mould. Gable has blind trefoil. Chamfered doorway and plank door inside. North and south sides have straight-headed Perpendicular windows, of 3 lights with hood moulds to east, and 2 much smaller lights to west. Blocked north doorway. Small tower of 3 stages has splay and moulded plinth, and splays between stages. Diagonal west, and north and south buttresses of 5 offsets. First stage has 4-centred west window. Second stage has quatrefoil opening to south. Third stage has bell openings with hood moulds and remains of carved stops. West window and bell openings have cusped Y-tracery. Embattled parapet with gargoyles. Interior is plastered, but chancel is of colourwashed brick, with boarded roof. Piscina. C19 chancel arch has outer continuous chamfer and inner order with half-octagonal responds. Nave has 4-centred rood loft stair doorway with plank door, and chamfered Tudor-arched doorway above. Tower arch of 2 segmental pointed orders. Perpendicular roof has Clb timbers, with carved wall posts and head corbels. Fittings: C19 altar rails, stalls, font, etc. Disused C14 font has round bowl and octagonal base. C17 altar table. Old plank chest. Monuments: nave north wall has reworked tomb recess with moulded segmental pointed arch. Remains of early C14 effigy, with half-length figure and enriched ogee quatrefoils forming part of a cross. C17 funeral helm and breast plates. The rebuilding cost 1500 pounds. (V.C.H.: Warwickshire, Vol.VI, pp.2b0-2bl; Buildings of England: Warwickshire, p.473; Kelly's Directory of Warwickshire, 1892, p.247).

Listing NGR: SP4966484802