Church Of St Leonard

The Church of St Leonard is an Anglican parish church largely dating to the 12th century, with significant portions from the 15th century and a restoration around 1879. It is constructed of coursed and squared rubble with freestone dressings, featuring coped verges with cruciform finials, and roofs covered in tile, slate, and lead. The church consists of a nave, a north porch, a chancel, a north chapel (Rodney Chapel), a south organ chamber, and a west tower of Perpendicular style.

The three-stage west tower is embattled with diagonal buttresses and a polygonal stair turret. It has a four-light west window, a west door, and a string and label with carved angels. The nave has a pierced parapet with pinnacles and three-light windows. A gabled porch features a moulded inner and outer door opening, with a niche above for a statue. The porch’s interior is benched and has a flagstone floor, along with a re-used 14th-century stoup. The chancel is embraced by the organ chamber and Rodney Chapel, the latter dating to around 1480 and featuring three-light windows, a door opening with an ogee canopy and statue niche, and a pierced parapet with pinnacles. The organ chamber is in a conforming neo-Perpendicular style. The chancel’s east end is highlighted by a three-light window with rich tracery.

The interior features plastered walls over tile and flagstone floors, and incorporates encaustic tiles. The nave has a panelled roof with ornamental bosses and thick moulded ribs, while the chancel has a wagon roof with similar bosses and thinner moulded ribs, likely dating to the 19th century. The Rodney Chapel shares a similar roof to the nave. The organ chamber features a simple lean-to roof. Moulded tower and chancel arches are from the 15th century, and a piscina is located under the tower. A 12th-century bowl font is adorned with gadrooning, and a Laudian tester is present. A rood screen, dated 1625, includes a base appearing to be from the 15th century, exhibiting a richly carved cornice and turned balusters to a former rood loft. Other furnishings include Laudian altar rails, an altar table, a pulpit, 19th-century choir stalls, and an organ. Early 20th-century pews feature fine neo-Perpendicular carved ends. Remnants of painted text are visible on the south wall of the nave, and a charity plaque resides under the tower.

The Rodney Chapel houses important memorial sculptures dedicated to the Rodney family. Sir Thomas Rodney, who died in 1417, is commemorated by a tomb chest with a recumbent effigy in armour, featuring weepers, figures of saints, and the Virgin. An open canopy between the chancel and the Rodney Chapel showcases cusped arches and a tall attic storey with heraldic devices. The memorial to Sir John Rodney, who died in 1527, includes a tomb chest under a cusped arch with embattled cresting and shields in relief. Anna, the wife of George Rodney (died 1630), is represented by a recumbent alabaster effigy under an arch supported by columns in front of the chapel’s east window. A canopy, curtained and adorned with busts, commemorates George Rodney (died 1657) and his lady. Late 19th-century stained glass windows are present, including an east window in the chancel dated 1886.