Church Of St Leonard In The Wood

CHURCH OF ST LEONARD IN THE WOOD

Church. 13th century, restored in 1865 (architect not presently known) with attached 1970s parish hall. Early English style.

MATERIALS AND PLAN

Built of stone rubble with tile-hanging to the top of the tower and a tiled roof. The building comprises a three-bay nave with a west tower, a lower two-bay chancel, a south porch, a north-east vestry, and a north parish hall.

EXTERIOR

The west wall of the nave is medieval stone rubble with a projecting central buttress. Two large pointed-arched windows with two cinquefoil-headed lights date from the 1865 restoration. The west tower has two stages, the upper stage tile-hung with a pyramidal roof and weathervane. On the south side of the nave are two large 19th-century windows with trefoil heads and three trefoiled circular lights above, with dripmouls. The south porch is gabled with a cross-shaped saddlestone, a round-headed arch with colonnettes, and arcades of four pointed arches supported on columns on the sides. The north wall of the nave is of medieval origin but is now concealed externally by the 1970s parish hall. The chancel is lower, with a two-light 19th-century pointed window in its south wall and a pointed-arched doorcase. The east wall of the chancel is rendered with a three-light trefoil-headed window with a circular feature above and a deep plinth. The north wall of the nave is obscured by a stone rubble parish hall added in the 1970s, which has three Velux windows to its roof. The north wall of the chancel is obscured by a projecting vestry of stone rubble with two gables, the central gable higher than the sides, each gable having a two-light cinquefoil-headed stone window.

INTERIOR

The nave has a 19th-century scissor-braced roof, though one of the tiebeams is original. The lower part of the tower has a 19th-century timber frame, but photographs of the tower's pyramidal roof show apparent original pegged timbers. The north wall of the nave contains a pointed-arched doorway and a plain medieval piscina, possibly moved from the south wall. The church contains a 19th-century octagonal stone font with a wooden cover with decorative brasswork, a large Pyrenean marble pulpit with pilasters and multi-coloured patterned marble inlay, and 1860s pews. A brass candelabra was taken from a Russian church during the Crimean War.

Stained glass windows of 1872 in the north nave depict Mary and Elizabeth, the presentation to the Temple, and the bringing of the children to Jesus. South windows show St Cecilia and St Catherine and two healing miracles. The west window is a war memorial depicting Christ and a man in armour. A large chancel arch with half-columns and an arcaded stone chancel railing separates the nave from the chancel.

The chancel has a 19th-century scissor-braced roof, 19th-century choir stalls with quatrefoil cut-outs to the fronts, and alternating plain and floral tiles to the floor. The sanctuary contains a 19th-century double stone sedilia with pointed arches and colonnettes, with patterned tiles featuring floral and circular motifs. An elaborate wooden reredos with side panels was donated around 1890 by the widow of David Henry Stone of Castelham, a former Lord Mayor of London. A Gothic-style carved organ case dates from 1912. The east window, by the Brussels firm Capronnier, dates from 1873 and depicts the Risen Christ and miracles, with 20th-century clear glass with leaded lights above the figures. The north wall contains a stained glass window depicting Charity, dated 1875, and the south wall holds windows depicting Faith and Hope, dated 1886.

HISTORY

Tradition holds that a hermit's chapel occupied the site in the 11th century. The earliest documentary reference appears in a charter of benediction granted to Count Henry of Ely (died 1139), which mentions an earlier charter granted to his grandfather Robert (died 1090) referencing a chapel at Hollington. In the mid-13th century, the chapel was replaced by a church, with a vicar appointed by one of the prebends of St Mary in the Castle, who held the patronage. The names of the first vicars are unknown until 1344, when John of Leveryngton exchanged benefices with Robert Brok of All Saints Church, Hastings. A bell in the tower is believed to be the work of William Burford and was cast between 1371 and 1392 in his London foundry. In 1865, a complete rebuilding was carried out at a cost primarily borne by Miss Matilda Dampner in memory of her parents. The organ dates from 1912. The parish room was added to the north of the nave in the 1970s.

A 13th-century stone church on an earlier, possibly Anglo-Saxon site, retaining some medieval wall fabric and the upper part of the tower, but otherwise comprehensively restored in 1865 in Early English style. The interior retains little-altered late 19th-century features.