Description

SP 06 NE
11/59

BEOLEY CP
CHURCH HILL (north side)
Church of St Leonard

16.11.67

GV
I
Parish church. Early C12, extended early C13, early C14, early C15 and c1580; restored 1885 and 1891. Sandstone ashlar with tiled roof. West tower, nave, north and south aisles, chancel with Sheldon Chapel to north.

West tower: c1400, four stages, diagonal stepped buttresses, crenellated parapet with plain pinnacles, each stage defined by string courses; west side: belfry has window of two cinquefoiled lights under two-centred head with label; second stage: square-headed window with crocketed label; first stage: large window of four cinquefoiled lights under a two-centred head with crocketed label; ground stage: door has a four-centred arch of two continuously moulded orders with label.

Aisles (there is no nave clerestory): south: early C13, largely rebuilt early C15, four bays, second bay from west has entrance with C19 gabled timber-framed porch, the entrance has a four-centred arch and is moulded; windows: all have cinquefoiled lights and square heads, that to the east of three lights, the others of two, above the three-light window is a restored C17 gabled dormer window, west window is C19; north: early C14, three bays: central entrance with four-centred head, west window of three cinquefoiled lights under a four-centred head, east window: three cinquefoiled lights under square head; a late C20 parish hall has been added to the north linked by a glazed corridor to the entrance from the north side.

Chancel: early C12, extended early C13, two bays with C19 diagonal buttresses, windows have trefoiled lights under square heads, two lights to west, three lights to east; east window: C19 of three septfoil lights under four-centred head.

Sheldon Chapel: late C16, two bays: two three-light square-headed windows; east window: five square-headed lights under a four-centred head.

INTERIOR: nave: arcades of three bays, south arcade early C13 has two-centred arches of two chamfered orders with label on a circular and an octagonal pier; north arcade: early C14 has two-centred arches of two orders; tower arch: tall with two continuously moulded orders; chancel arch: C12, a plain semi-circular arch with impost blocks, above which is a C19 Romanesque window of two semi-circular headed lights; chancel: arcade to Sheldon Chapel through two memorials.

Roofs: north aisle has matchboarding to a five bay medieval roof, south aisle C19 lean-to roof; nave: C19 scissor-braced common rafter roof; chancel: C19 four-bay roof with arch-braced collars supporting king posts; Sheldon Chapel: C19 scissor-braced common-rafter roof with collar purlin.

Fittings: south aisle, set in wall a C12 relief of a saint; north aisle: font of C13 has four female heads on bowl; Sheldon Chapel: an important collection of Italianate monuments, two penetrate wall to chancel, that to east to William Sheldon (died 1570) and his wife Mary, has two recumbent stone effigies on a sarcophagus bearing a number of coats of arms, all under a four-centred arch with panelled soffit, framed by detached Corinthian columns supporting a full entablature surmounted by an armorial achievement flanked by obelisks; that to west to Ralph Sheldon (died 1613) and his wife Anne; similar in design to the west; in the north wall two semi-circular tomb recesses, to the east William Sheldon (died 1517) a table tomb with three panelled front divided by Doric pilasters; to the west Ralph Sheldon (died 1546), similar design but Ionic pilasters; west wall of chapel a collection of wall memorials to the Sheldon family, dated from 1613 to 1766; altar in chapel is of two stages, both supported on three columns, the upper slab of black marble; on the sloping sill of the west window is a C13 stone coffin lid with a foliated cross.

Listing NGR: SP0651869649

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Church of St Leonard official website
• Wikidata Q17530258

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

• 
  Cumbria: Cumberland, Westmorland and Furness (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  [(Bedfordshire, Huntingdon and Peterborough)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1968)
• 
  Maintaining and Repairing Old Houses: A Guide to Conservation, Sustainability and Economy
• 
  Staffordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Oxfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Historic Environment Law: Planning, Listed Buildings, Monuments, Conservation Areas and Objects by Harwood, Richard (2012) Paperback