St Leonard's Church, Bridgnorth

St Leonard's Church, Bridgnorth
St Leonard's Church, Bridgnorth
A sandstone church with the embattled tower on the left, and the body of the church on the right, seen end-on
Tower of St Leonard's Church, Bridgnorth

St Leonard's Church, Bridgnorth is located in Shropshire
St Leonard's Church, Bridgnorth
Location in Shropshire
Coordinates: 52°32′14″N 2°25′07″W / 52.5371°N 2.4187°W / 52.5371; -2.4187
OS grid reference SO 716 933
Location Bridgnorth, Shropshire
Country England
Denomination Anglican
Website Churches Conservation Trust
History
Dedication Saint Leonard
Architecture
Functional status Redundant
Heritage designation Grade II*
Designated 18 July 1949
Architect(s) Thomas Rickman
F. J. Francis
Slater and Carpenter
Architectural type Church
Style Gothic, Gothic Revival
Completed 1878
Specifications
Materials Sandstone,
roofs of clay tiles

St Leonard's Church, Bridgnorth, is a redundant Anglican church in Bridgnorth, Shropshire, England. It has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade II* listed building,[1] and is under the care of the Churches Conservation Trust.[2]

Contents

History

The present church originated in the 12th century.[1] There is no mention of a church at Bridgnorth in the Domesday Book, but it is likely that there was an earlier church on the site because Anglo-Saxon and Norman stonework has been incorporated into the fabric of the present church.[3] A tower was added to it in 1448.[1] During the Civil War the Roundheads used the north aisle of the church to store ammunition, and this was ignited by a shot from a cannon in 1646.[2][3] As a result the north aisle and the eastern part of the south aisle were destroyed.[1][4] The roof of the nave was rebuilt in 1662, but the aisles were not fully restored at that time. In 1826 the chancel was repaired by Thomas Rickman, and it was further restored in 1846–47 by F. J. Francis. A major reconstruction of the church was undertaken from 1860 by W. Slater and R. H. Carpenter. They rebuilt the church in Geometrical style rather than in the Perpendicular style of the earlier church. In 1870–73 Slater and Carpenter substantially rebuilt the tower, this time in Perpendicular style. An octagonal library was added to the north side of the chancel in 1878.[1] By the 1970s the tower had become unsafe, and in 1976 the church was declared redundant. It was vested in the Churches Conservation Trust in 1980.[3]

Architecture

Exterior

St Leonard's is constructed in local red Bunter sandstone, and has clay tile roofs.[1] Its plan consists of a rectangle comprising a five-bay nave with north and south aisles (the south aisle is one bay shorter) under separate roofs, a three-bay chancel with a roof at a lower level, a tower outside the west bay of the south aisle, and an octagonal library to the north of the chancel.[4] The tower is in three stages separated by string courses, with diagonal buttresses, and a northwest polygonal stair turret with a crocketted spirelet. Its lower stage contains the entrance to the church through a south doorway leading into a porch. Above this is a large five-light window. In the middle stage is a statue of Saint Leonard in a niche. The top stage contains paired two-light bell openings. The parapet is embattled with eight crocketted pinnacles. Most of the windows in the aisles have three lights. At the west end of the nave is a doorway above which is a pair of three-light windows. The south wall of the chancel has three three-light windows, the central one being shorter and over a priest's door. The east window has four lights. On the north wall of the chancel are two windows, a squint, and a link to the library. The library has a pyramidal roof, and simple two-light mullioned windows, alternating with tall two-light dormers.[1]

Interior

Inside the church there is a five-bay north arcade and a four-bay south arcade. The arcades are carried on circular piers with capitals carved with foliage by S. Poole. On the south side, one of the bays is divided by a pier. This has a carving of the Expulsion from Eden on its capital, and in the tympanum of the main arch is a carving in a roundel of the Annunciation to the shepherds; both are by James Redfern. In south wall of the chancel is a double piscina and a stepped sedilia. There are hammerbeam roofs in the nave, the south aisle, and the chancel. The north aisle has a tie-beam roof, and there is a lierne vault in the base of the tower. The walls of the nave and aisles are covered in red-brown plaster, while those in the tower and chancel are bare. The nave is floored with red and black tiles, with raised wooden floors under the pews. The chancel floor contains memorial mosaics and tiles, while the sanctuary has encaustic tiles.[1]

The font is octagonal, standing on marble shafts, with carved marble figures under canopies; it dates from 1894 and is by Thomas Earp. The font has a tall timber cover with pinnacles by J. Phillips of Liverpool dating from 1991. The polygonal wooden pulpit, made by James Forsyth in 1862, stands on a large stone base. It is carved with foliage and a roundel with Christ teaching his apostles. The elm lectern of 1929 is also by Phillips, and represents an angel with a trumpet. The reredos of 1882 was designed by R. H. Carpenter and carved by Earp. In the centre is the Crucifixion, and on the sides are gabled niches with figures of the four Doctors of the Church. At the east end of the south aisle is a chapel with a reredos designed by Charles Spooner for the Guild of Handicraft in 1898, containing a painting of Christ administering Holy Communion by Frank Smallpiece. Also in the south aisle, and again of 1898, are a copper cross and candlesticks by Bainbridge Reynolds in Arts and Crafts style.[1][4]

Much of the stained glass in the church is by Clayton and Bell. This includes the east window of 1876, which depicts the Te Deum.[1][4] This window was a memorial to Thomas Rowley, headmaster of Bridgnorth Grammar School.[3] Other glass by Clayton and Bell is in the windows in the south aisle of 1874 depicting saints, in the tower of 1873 showing subjects relating to baptism, and in the north aisle of between 1879 and 1908 depicting historical figures of the Church of England. In the chancel, a window of 1873 in the north wall of 1873 is by William Done and shows the Good Samaritan, and in the south wall is a window of about 1847 by William Wailes which represents the Canticles. Also in the church are a number of memorials. In the north wall of the chancel is a monument in Baroque style to Francis Wheeler who died in 1686, and next to it is one to Sarah Wheeler who had died during the previous year. In the south aisle is a brass plaque to William Francis Oldham who died in 1899, and a memorial to Frank Smallpiece who died in 1904. Also in the south aisle are four cast iron ledgers containing dates of death between 1679 and 1707.[1][4] The ring consists of eight bells. Five of these were cast in 1681 by Thomas Roberts, and the other three are by John Warner & Sons, two are dated 1874 and the other one is dated 1895.[5]

See also

  • List of churches preserved by the Churches Conservation Trust in the English Midlands

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Church of St Leonard, Bridgnorth", The National Heritage List for England (English Heritage), 2011, http://list.english-heritage.org.uk/resultsingle.aspx?uid=1178124, retrieved 12 May 2011 
  2. ^ a b St Leonard's Church, Bridgnorth, Shropshire, Churches Conservation Trust, http://www.visitchurches.org.uk/Ourchurches/Completelistofchurches/St-Leonards-Church-Bridgnorth-Shropshire/, retrieved 29 March 2011 
  3. ^ a b c d Marchant, Sandy (2001), St Leonard's Church, Bridgnorth: Information for Teachers, Churches Conservation Trust 
  4. ^ a b c d e Newman, John; Pevsner, Nikolaus (2006), Shropshire, The Buildings of England, New Haven and London: Yale University Press, pp. 160–162, ISBN 0-300-12083-4 
  5. ^ Bridgnorth, S Leonard, Dove's Guide for Church Bell Ringers, http://dove.cccbr.org.uk/detail.php?searchString=bridgnorth&Submit=+Go+&DoveID=BRIDGNOR+L, retrieved 5 November 2010 

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Bridgnorth — infobox UK place country = England latitude= 52.5315 longitude= 2.4179 official name= Bridgnorth population = 12,216 shire district= Bridgnorth shire county = Shropshire region= West Midlands constituency westminster= Ludlow post town= BRIDGNORTH …   Wikipedia

  • Bridgnorth — 52.534166666667 2.4183333333333 …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • St Luke's Church, Goostrey — St Luke s Church, Goostrey, from the south Coordinates …   Wikipedia

  • Dorcas — For other uses, see Dorcas (disambiguation). Section of Healing of the Cripple and Raising of Tabitha by Masolino da Panicale, 1425. Dorcas (also known as Tabitha) was a disciple who lived in Joppa, referenced in the Book of Acts …   Wikipedia

  • Thomas Rowley (headmaster) — Bridgnorth Grammar School The Headmaster s House Dr Thomas Rowley (1797–1877)[1] was a successful headmaster of Bridgnorth Grammar School between 1821 and 1850 …   Wikipedia

  • Dawley — For people named Dawley, see Dawley (surname). Coordinates: 52°39′50″N 2°28′04″W / 52.6638°N 2.4677°W / 52.6638; 2.4677 …   Wikipedia

  • List of abbeys and priories in England — Contents 1 Overview 1.1 Article layout 2 Abbreviations and key …   Wikipedia

  • List of leaning towers — NOTOC This is a list of leaning towers. A leaning tower is a tower which, either intentionally, due to errors in design, construction or to subsequent external influence, does not stand perpendicular to the ground. The most famous of these is the …   Wikipedia

  • 2008 New Year Honours — The New Year Honours 2008 for the Commonwealth Realms were announced on 29 December 2007,[1] to celebrate the year passed and mark the beginning of 2008. The recipients of honours are displayed here as they were styled before their new honour,… …   Wikipedia

  • New Year Honours 2008 — The New Year Honours 2008 for the Commonwealth Realms were announced on 29 December 2007, [cite web| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7163660.stm| title= Parkinson and Minogue top honours] to celebrate the year passed and mark the beginning of… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”