Description

SO 75 SE COTHERIDGE CP CHURCH LANE (east side)

5/25 Church of St Leonards
29.7.59

II*

Parish church. Early C12, altered early C15 and restored in 1684 for Rowland
Berkeley. Part plastered sandstone, part brick, tiled roofs; bell tower is
timber-framed, part plastered, part weatherboarded with slate roof. 2 bay
chancel with former south chapel, now vestry, nave and south tower.
South tower Added in C15. 4 stages; lower 2 stages are plastered, upper
2 stages weatherboarded; lower stage has C17 10-light chamfered mullioned
window in west wall; south wall faced with tongued and grooved oak planks
and has a central pointed arched doorway; C15 planked door with moulded
cover strips and wrought iron hinges. Above on the second stage are 2 small
lights with a single diagonal mullion. The belfry stage has paired, louvred
bell chamber openings and pyramidal roof. Chancel east wall has 2 original
pilaster buttresses and C15 diagonal buttress at its southern angle; early
C15 east window for 4 cusped lights. South wall has 2 original pilaster
buttresses flanked by a C13 cusped lancet to the west, and a C13 2-light
window to the east. Nave north elevation has 3 original pilaster buttresses
and a C17 diagonal brick buttress; 2 C18 windows with cambered heads and
leaded lights set within C12 window openings and a blocked doorway opposing
the main southern entrance door. West elevation has C14 corner buttresses
and a central original pilaster buttress with a C19 pointed arched window
above and C18 windows with cambered heads each side in the original openings;
all windows have leaded lights. South elevation has 3 original pilaster
buttresses and a C14 buttress at the east end; late C14 3-light window and an
original lancet, enclosed by tower. Vestry Built in 1620 as a chapel. Brick
in Old English bond. Parapetted gable ends with moulded capings; 3 clasping
buttresses to north wall; square-headed 3-light east window has label mould
with returns; planked timber door in west elevation. Interior Wall dividing
nave and chancel has a central chancel arch enriched with chevron moulding,
on spiral columns decorated with a beaded spiral band and having pointed
scalloped capitals and moulded bases; on either side of the arch are window
openings, the north window has a semi-circular head and the south window a
4-centred arched head; both windows have leaded lights. The chancel roof
is probably C14 having a central king-post and swept wind-braces; nave has
a barrel vaulted roof and moulded cornice; the vestry roof has a central
raking strut truss. The timber-framework of the south tower is constructed
at its lower 3 stages around 2 pairs of massive cruck-like blades, which
intersect at second stage level;2 very long slightly curved braces cross
from first floor to third stage level, intersecting just above the main
blades. The wall-frame at the lowest stage is infilled with tongue-and-
groove boarding; the second stage is of 2 rows of close-set vertical studding
with swept braces; the third stage is of 2 rows of large, rectangular panels
having swept and straight braces, totalling 5 panels from sill to wall-plate
beneath belfy. The belfy is smaller in section and composed of small square
and rectangular panels with straight braces, 3 from the third stage to wall-
plate. The interior walls and ceiling of the nave, chancel and chapel are
plastered; some of the plaster in the nave has been removed to expose fragments
of medieval wall paintings on the north wall and wall above the chancel arch.
The chancel has a C17 arched doorway to vestry; C15 and C19 floor tiles; piscina
with arched head; a C17 hexagonal oak panelled pulpit and tester; dado of C17
panelling behind altar and box pews made up of similar panelling; late C17
altar rails with turned balusters; 4 wall memorials of mid C19 date, the 3
on the north wall to the Berkeley family. Mid C19 font. C17 painted glass in
vestry window of the arms of the Berkeley family with a label and crest of a
bear's head, razed and muzzled. At the time of survey (June 1984) the nave
and south tower were out of use, apparently due to their deteriorating
condition. (VCH, BoE).

Listing NGR: SO7867054739

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• St. Leonard's Church, Cotheridge at Wikipedia
• Wikidata Q7589526

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

• 
  Berkshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Essex: Buildings of England Series (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Herefordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Worcestershire Revised Edition (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990
• 
  [(Shropshire)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1958)