Church of St Leonard

SP 0843 - SP 0943 15/56

BRETFORTON CP MAIN STREET (south side) Church of St Leonard

30.07.59

GV I Parish church. Late C12, partly rebuilt late C13 (consecrated 1295), extended mid-C14 and C15, restored mid-C19. Coursed lias rubble with ashlar dressing and Cotswold stone roof. West tower, nave with north and south aisles and porches, transepts and chancel.

West tower: C15. Three stages with diagonal step buttresses and crenellated parapet with crocketted corner pinnacles. Belfry stage has windows of two ogee trefoiled lights under a two-centred head, the first stage has a small square-headed window, and the ground stage has an ogee trefoiled window with square head over a door with a C19 Tudor arch.

Aisles: C12 with later details. South aisle: three bays, that to right occupied by gabled C14 transept which has diagonal buttresses and a C14 window of two cinquefoiled lights under a two-centred head. Aisle to left has a C19 stone porch with a C15 door to the outer arch, to the right a window of three cinquefoiled lights under a triangular head. North aisle and transept similarly arranged, save that the transept has a window of two ogee trefoil lights under a two-centred head.

Chancel: late C13 of three bays with two trefoiled lancets to west and a window of two cinquefoiled lights to east. East window C18 of three pointed lights under a two-centred head.

INTERIOR: nave: late C12 arcades, that to south of two and a half bays with two-centred arches of two square orders. The pillars and responds are round with scalloped capitals. The north arcade probably slightly later in date is of three bays. The arches are two-centred and the pillars round. The capital of the first pillar from the east has a carving of the legend of St Margaret on the nave (south) side. A blocked C15 doorway to tower has a hollow chamfer to arch and jambs. South aisle has a C14 trefoiled piscina with shaft in the south wall. Part of the rood loft staircase survives at the north east corner. Chancel: the windows are widely splayed with chamfered rere-arches.

Roofs: nave and chancel roofed continuously without chancel arch, nave of three bays, chancel of two, with heavily moulded tie beams and wall plates. The tie beam at the junction has arch braces, rising from C15 stone corbels. Aisle roofs are lean-to.

Fittings: reset panelling in south transept includes a piece dated 1615. The font is round with a tapering bowl and may be C12.

Listing NGR: SP0929843815