Parish Church Of St Mary

Parish Church of St Mary, Leighton Bromswold

This parish church originated in the 13th century with a chancel and aisled nave, which were rebuilt and enlarged during the 14th century when north and south transepts were added. The building underwent significant restoration in 1626 under the direction of George Herbert, during which the nave was rebuilt to a greater width. The aisles were demolished at this time, though the north and south doorways in the porches were retained. A west tower was constructed in 1634 by the Duke of Lennox, and the church received further restoration in 1870.

The walls are of coursed Weldon rubble with field stones, with ashlar facing to the tower and dressings of Ketton, Weldon and Barnack limestone. The roofs are tiled.

The south elevation features a three-stage west tower with modillioned cornice and embattled parapet between buttresses rising to pinnacles with ball finials. The belfry has paired round-arched lights with plain pilasters, larger versions of the west ground-stage windows and west doorway (which has a key block and plain tablet above). The second-stage window is square-headed. The nave and transept have plain moulded parapets. A reset 15th-century window of three cinquefoiled lights with vertical tracery in a four-centred head is visible. The south porch has a mid-13th-century outer doorway with a two-centred arch of three moulded orders, moulded label and dog-tooth ornament, with jambs of four shafts with moulded capitals and bases. The south transept has angle buttresses, mainly 14th-century, and a 15th-century window of three cinquefoiled lights with vertical tracery in a four-centred head. The chancel has two eastern windows from the early 14th century, each with three-pointed lights and intersecting tracery in a two-centred head. The western chancel window is 15th-century with three cinquefoiled lights and vertical tracery in a four-centred head. Below this window is a blocked 14th-century doorway and a blocked low-side window, with a 16th-century doorway with chamfered jambs and four-centred head nearby. Seventeenth-century rainwater heads appear on the south walls of the nave, transept and chancel. One head, dated 1632, is elaborately shaped with enriched cornice, strapwork and ornament on the flanges, down pipe with enriched straps, and acanthus ornament at the junction.

The interior contains a tower arch, two-centred with classically moulded orders springing from square responds with moulded imposts. The 13th-century chancel arch is two-centred with two chamfered orders, the inner order springing from triple attached shafts with moulded capitals and modern corbels. Double piscenae in the chancel are 13th-century, reset with intersecting arcade, shafted jambs with moulded capitals and bases, recessed shelves and two multifoiled drains. A 13th-century bracket in the chancel features ball-flower ornaments, as does another in the south transept. A 13th-century locker with trefoiled head is in the north wall of the chancel, and a 14th-century locker with chamfered reveals is in the south transept. The font is formed from two 13th-century capitals with cover.

Noteworthy fittings date to around 1630–1640 and comprise oak screen, pulpits, seating and stalls with similar designs. The chancel roof has been restored with five 17th-century trusses featuring moulded tie beams, moulded and panelled braces, and moulded wall-posts with shaped and moulded pendants. The nave roof has six similar bays with some repair, and the transept roofs are comparable, each of three bays. Seventeenth-century floor tiles are present in the north transept.

The church is noted for its 17th-century fittings, rainwater heads and monuments. The 17th-century tower is an unusual Renaissance feature.