St Leonard, Bridgnorth
St Leonard, Bridgnorth
St Leonard’s is a Grade II* redundant church in St Leonard’s Close, Bridgnorth, Shropshire, in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust since 1980. Historic England places the former parish in the Diocese of Hereford.
- Location
- Bridgnorth, Shropshire
- Country
- England
- County
- Shropshire
- City / town
- Bridgnorth
- Address
- St Leonards Close, Bridgnorth, Shropshire, WV16 4EJ
- Postcode
- WV16 4EJ
- Built
- Medieval; tower 1448; reconstructed 1860–73
- Architect
- Thomas Rickman; F J Francis; Slater and Carpenter
- Denomination
- Churches Conservation Trust
- Dedication
- Leonard
- Diocese
- Hereford
- Parish
- Bridgnorth
- Grade
- II*
- Style
- Geometrical Gothic Revival
- Materials
- Local Bunter sandstone with clay tile roofs
- Grid reference
- SO 716 933
- Opening hours
- St Leonard's is currently open Wednesday to Saturday from 11am until 3pm. The church is opened on these days by our team of volunteers subject to their availability.
- Access
- Level access to the main areas
Overview
Historic England records a medieval town church of twelfth-century origin with a fifteenth-century tower, badly damaged in 1646 and repaired in 1662. Thomas Rickman repaired the chancel in 1826; F. J. Francis restored it in 1846–47. Slater and Carpenter reconstructed the church in 1860–73 in a consistent Geometrical style, with glass by Clayton and Bell; they substantially rebuilt the tower in 1870–73 in Perpendicular style. An octagonal library was added on the north side of the chancel in 1878. Materials are local Bunter sandstone with clay tile roofs and crested ridge tiles on the chancel. The plan is a nave with aisles (the south aisle one bay shorter), a lower chancel, a projecting south-west tower and the octagonal library.
The tower was built in 1448 at the expense of Richard Horde. In 1646 Parliamentary troops stored ammunition in the north aisle; a cannon shot ignited it and destroyed the north aisle and the east part of the south aisle. The 1662 hammerbeam nave roof survives. Slater and Carpenter’s interiors include foliage capitals carved by S. Poole and reliefs by James Redfern. Fixtures include an octagonal font by T. Earp (1894), a pulpit by James Forsyth (1862) and a reredos designed by R. H. Carpenter and built by Earp (1882). Four cast-iron ledgers of 1679–1707 stand in the south aisle. The church became redundant in 1976.