Church Of St Leonard

Church of St Leonard

The Church of St Leonard stands on raised ground above and set back from Topsham Road in Exeter. It replaces an earlier classical church of 1831 by Andrew Patey. The present building was constructed in two phases: the chancel in 1873 by S Robinson (foundation stone laid 18 August 1876), and the remainder in 1883 by R M Fulford. A southeast vestry was added in 1902 by C Cole, and a church centre was built to the southwest in 1993-4 by John Taylor.

The church is constructed of grey Devon limestone with Bath stone dressings and slate roofs. It follows a conservative Geometrical Gothic Revival style derived from architecture of around 1300. The plan comprises a nave, chancel, narrow north and south aisles, a southwest steeple, north chapel, south organ chamber, southeast vestry, and a small northeast porch.

The most prominent feature is the steeple, positioned at the west end of the south aisle and a landmark in southern Exeter. It has three stages with large diagonal buttresses capped by pinnacles rising above the tower. The ground stage contains a west doorway beneath a broad crocketed straight-gabled hood with a shafted arch and two orders of squat engaged shafts with fillets. The belfry windows have two lights with Y-tracery. The broach spire is particularly tall with broaches partly obscured by the tower pinnacles, two tiers of spire-lights in the cardinal directions, and two bands of ornament with scaly detailing. A stair turret rises in the angle between the nave and tower.

The west end of the nave contains a large five-light window with rich tracery. The nave and aisles are divided into four bays, each bay having a pair of windows. The aisle windows have two lights with moulded surrounds and a cusped mandorla in the heads. The clerestory windows are square with elaborate cusping. Around the chancel are single-light windows each with a trefoil in the head. The southeast vestry has a flat roof with parapets and square-headed Perpendicular windows of one, two, and three lights. The transeptal north chapel has a three-light Geometrical window. Above the second bay from the east, the nave has an attractive ventilator turret. The large L-shaped church centre attached to the southwest part has restrained detailing and square-headed windows.

Internally, the nave is wide with quite narrow aisles of four bays. Between them are arcades with alternating circular polished granite piers and octagonal veined stone ones, all with moulded capitals and water-holding bases. The arches have two orders: a moulded outer order and a chamfered inner one. The rere-arches of the aisle windows are unusual in having cusping. At the west end of the nave is a tall broad arch opening into a short bay, at the southwest corner of which is the projecting entrance to the tower stair with a sloping stone covering. A broad arch leads to the chancel with a large angel bust in each respond and clustered shafting above, followed by a plainer arch to the sanctuary. The space under the tower has stone vaulting. The roof over the nave is canted with main trusses rising from slender stone wall shafts stretching down into the valleys between the arcade arches. The floors are carpeted.

A fire in 1989 was followed by a major reordering which led to removal of nearly all the Victorian fixtures. The Gothic stalls of 1914-15 have been repositioned at the west end, and the body of the church is now seated with upholstered chairs. A considerable amount of stained glass remains. A few minor monuments from the previous church were resited, the best being an urn to Thomas Collins (d 1761). A large wall-mounted brass to William Miles (d 1881) under a Gothic stone canopy is placed under the tower. At the west end is a marble tablet with a coat of arms to the Barings of Larkbeare and Mount Radford, dated 1913.

Robert Medley Fulford (1845 or 1846-1910) was articled to the Exeter architects Hayward and Son and commenced practice in the city around 1868. He developed a very extensive church-building and restoration practice in Devon. The church makes an impressive display due to its raised site, size, and the landmark steeple, though the historic value of its interior has been much reduced by the extensive 1990s reordering.