Parish Church Of St Leonard

The Parish Church of St Leonard is a Grade I listed building located on Main Street in Downham. The church features a tower from the 12th century, which was later modified in the 19th century to replace an earlier structure. An original 12th-century door was reset in the early 13th century south aisle. The nave, aisles, and chancel date back to the 13th century and are unbuttressed, with walls that have been repaired and partly rebuilt in the 19th century. The chancel and aisle windows from the 14th century have been restored or replaced in the 19th century. The south porch was rebuilt in the 19th century using a 15th-century arch. The roofs are also from the 19th century. The walls are constructed of pebble and limestone rubble, with some brick repairs and clunch courses in the chancel, along with limestone dressings and some reused materials.

The south elevation features a tower with four stages, a plain parapet, and angle pinnacles. It includes a small loop window and a second-stage window, as well as a two-light belfry window in a square-headed arch with labels. The clerestory has lancet lights with wide, deeply splayed inner arches. There are two restored two-light aisle windows and two two-light chancel windows from the 14th century, all with square-headed arches and labels. The south porch has a 15th-century four-centred moulded arch. The south door has been rebuilt with a two-centred arch, featuring two carved heads of mask ornament in clunch, possibly from the 13th century, with a chevron outer order and jambs that include two chevroned and cabled shafts, one of which has a carved head of the devil. The door was rebuilt in the 19th century using original 13th-century boards and ironwork.

Inside, the chancel arch and nave arcade consist of five bays with alternating round and octagonal piers, plain moulded caps and bases, and two-centred arches of two chamfered orders. The tower arch may date back to the 12th century and features a chamfered design with a moulded label. The chancel includes a piscina from the 13th century with a double cinquefoil arch and foiled drains, which have been cut by a 14th-century window. The roof is composed of three bays with arch-braced construction and painted 19th-century stencil decoration. The bell stock from the 15th century has curved cross braces in each bay. There is a 15th-century screen and an octagonal font from the same period, decorated with quatrefoil and sunk panel designs. A 19th-century tapestry is used as a reredos, and a George III coat of arms is painted on canvas on the west nave wall.