Church Of St Leonard

The Church of St Leonard is a medieval church that underwent significant alterations in the 19th century. It features a nave, chancel, north aisle, west tower, north and south chapels, and a south porch. The structure is built of flint rubble, with 19th-century work in rounded flints, and has limestone dressings. The roofs are slated and have crenellated parapets and gables.

Key architectural elements include mid-14th century work, primarily restored in the 19th century, such as the south door of the nave with an adjacent stoup, the chancel's east window with four lights and reticulated tracery, inner shafts, and a hood-mould, as well as a cusped piscina and window-seat. The north chancel door is also moulded. The south porch, added around 1465, is constructed of knapped flint and features panel and chequerboard flushwork, an arched doorway with a hood-mould and niche above, and crenellated parapets.

Other 15th-century elements include the tower, which has a two-light west window and was rebuilt in the upper stage around 1703, as indicated by a scratched date on the round-arched belfry opening. The tower has crenellated parapets and crocketed pinnacles, and the tower arch is pilastered. The nave roof is of the coupled rafter type with soulaces, a crenellated cornice, and ashlar struts, while the chancel roof is likely similar but now features a 19th-century painted boarded soffit. The north aisle and chapel were added in 1843, made of knapped flint with gault brick dressings. Further 19th-century work includes the reconstruction of the 14th-century south chapel and the windows and door to the south chancel.

Inside, there is a plain octagonal 15th-century font with painted escutcheons. Wall tablets commemorate John Cook, who died in 1653; Thomas Covel, who died in 1715; Sir Richard Gipps, who died in 1681, and Dame Elizabeth Gipps, who died in 1715; and Valentine Munbee, who died in 1750. There is also a brass for Mary Lucas, who died in 1618, and a floor slab for Christian Lucas, who died in 1666. Additionally, there is a group of about 30 18th-century tombstones located within 17 yards south of the church, east of the south entrance, many of which feature fine carvings at the head.