Description

TA 06 NW SKERNE MAIN STREET
(south side, off)

6/89 Church of St Leonard

20/9/66
- I

Church. C12 nave and chancel, C15 west tower. C19 vestry and south porch.
Ashlar, rendered to nave and chancel, flagstone dressings, graduated slate
roofs. West tower, 3-bay nave with south porch, 2-bay chancel with north
vestry. West tower of 2 stages with moulded plinth, diagonal buttresses,
hollow-chamfered string-courses. 2-light pointed belfry openings with C19
tracery in Perpendicular style. Embattled parapet with corner obelisks.
3-light west window with C19 tracery in Perpendicular style under hood-
mould. Nave: chamfered plinth and buttresses, 2-light square-headed windows
with C19 tracery in Perpendicular- style and hood-moulds. Round-headed
south door with continuous roll-moulding and beakhead. Raised coped gable.
Chancel: chamfered plinth and diagonal buttresses. Low-side lancet to west,
2-light window with C19 tracery in Perpendicular style under 4-centred head
with hood-mould to east. Priest's door with pointed head and continuous
chamfer. 3-light east window with Curvilinear tracery under pointed head.
Raised coped gable. Interior: C12 responds to C19 imposts and double-
chamfered pointed tower arch. Round-headed blocked door in west wall of
nave to north of tower arch, possibly leading to former external stair
turret. Blocked early C13 north arcade and responds with quatrefoil piers
and abaci (and additional shafts to west pier) and fillet to east respond
supporting double-chamfered pointed arches. Blocked round rear-arch and
partly blocked piscina to south wall. C12 chancel arch with attached
shafts, cushion capitals with volutes and human masks, quirk and chamfer
imposts extending as a string to north and south, and a round-headed arch of
3 orders towards the nave - 2 inner roll-moulded orders, one outer order
enriched with chevrons and lozenges - and a single square order to the
chancel. Squint to north of chancel arch. Chancel has blocked sedilium
with shouldered triangular head to north wall. 3 effigies reset in blocked
west arch of former north arcade: a knight with crossed legs and re-tooled
head, a woman with a head-dress in a quatrefoil to the right, and a baby in
swaddling-clothes between them. C19 octagonal font. Numerous pieces of
beakhead have been reset in the walls, which also retain traces of black-
letter inscriptions. It seems probable that the lower stage of the west
tower encloses an earlier structure.

Listing NGR: TA0466155116

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17533963

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Essex: Buildings of England Series (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Handbook 2 Books Bundle Collection (Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair,Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability)
• 
  London 6: Westminster (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England): Westminster v. 6
• 
  Churches: An Architectural Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
• 
  Historic Environment Law: Planning, Listed Buildings, Monuments, Conservation Areas and Objects by Harwood, Richard (2012) Paperback
• 
  Sussex: West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)