St Edward the Confessor's Church is an active

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

church in

Leek A leek is a vegetable, a cultivar of ''Allium ampeloprasum'', the broadleaf wild leek (synonym (taxonomy), syn. ''Allium porrum''). The edible part of the plant is a bundle of Leaf sheath, leaf sheaths that is sometimes erroneously called a "s ...

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

, England. The building, which dates back to the 13th century, is listed

Grade II* In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

. It is Leek's original

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

, although the parish now includes other churches such as All Saints which were built as the town's population increased.

Restorations

Much of the church's appearance reflects two 19th century restorations. The first was by

Ewan Christian Ewan Christian (1814–1895) was a British architect. He is most frequently noted for the restorations of Southwell Minster and Carlisle Cathedral, and the design of the National Portrait Gallery (London), National Portrait Gallery. He was Arch ...

, who in 1847 was appointed consulting architect to the Lichfield Diocesan Building Society. He went on to carry out many more restorations as architect to the

Ecclesiastical Commissioners The Ecclesiastical Commissioners were, in England and Wales, a body corporate, whose full title was Ecclesiastical and Church Estates Commissioners for England. The commissioners were authorised to determine the distribution of revenues of the Ch ...

. The church's second restoration was by

George Edmund Street George Edmund Street (20 June 1824 – 18 December 1881), also known as G. E. Street, was an English architect, born at Woodford in Essex. Stylistically, Street was a leading practitioner of the Victorian Gothic Revival. Though mainly an eccl ...

, a leading practitioner of the Victorian

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

Glass and textiles

There is stained glass made by

Morris and Co Morris may refer to: Places Australia * St Morris, South Australia, place in South Australia Canada * Morris Township, Ontario, now part of the municipality of Morris-Turnberry * Rural Municipality of Morris, Manitoba ** Morris, Man ...

, including designs by

George Frederick Bodley George Frederick Bodley (14 March 182721 October 1907) was an English Gothic Revival architect. He was a pupil of Sir George Gilbert Scott and worked with C. E. Kempe. He was in partnership with Thomas Garner for much of his career and was ...

(north and south rose windows),

Edward Burne-Jones Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, 1st Baronet, (; 28 August 183317 June 1898) was an English painter and designer associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood's style and subject matter. Burne-Jones worked with William Morris as a founding part ...

(north aisle east window) and

John Henry Dearle John Henry Dearle (22 August 1859 – 15 January 1932) was a British textile and stained-glass designer trained by the artist and craftsman William Morris who was much influenced by the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Dearle designed many of t ...

(south aisle window). The church owns examples of the work of the Leek School of Embroidery which was founded in 1879/1880 by the embroideress Lady Elizabeth Wardle and her husband Sir Thomas Wardle. One of the windows is a memorial to her.

Churchyard

The wall surrounding the

churchyard In Christian countries, a churchyard is a patch of land adjoining or surrounding a church (building), church, which is usually owned by the relevant church or local parish itself. In the Scots language and in both Scottish English and Ulster S ...

and the

lychgate A lychgate (from Old English ''līc'', corpse) or resurrection gate is a covered gateway found at the entrance to a traditional English or English-style churchyard. Examples also exist outside the British Isles in places such as Newfoundland, the ...

are listed Grade II. The churchyard contains two early medieval (11th century according to one source) crosses which are listed Grade II and are also protected as

scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage, visu ...

s * Cross, south * Cross, southeast

Double sunset

The churchyard is notable as a place for viewing a

double sunset A double sunset is a rare astro-geographical phenomenon, in which the Sun appears to set twice in the same evening from a specific viewing-point. A double sunrise may also occur in a similar situation. Such phenomena may have been regarded as si ...

on and around the summer solstice. The sun has been observed to set twice behind a hill some six miles from Leek. The phenomenon was first described by

Robert Plot Robert Plot (13 December 1640 – 30 April 1696) was an English naturalist and antiquarian who was the first professor of chemistry at the University of Oxford and the first keeper of the Ashmolean Museum. Early life and education Born in Bor ...

in a 1686 publication.''The Natural History of Staffordshire''. Oxford University Press. The first edition has been described as "scarce", but the book has been reprinted by other publishers. It is still visible from Leek, depending on the weather. By the time Plot publicised it, this double sunset would have been visible for centuries. The relevant alignments change over time, but it has been calculated that the double sunset predates the arrival of

Christianity in Roman Britain Christianity was present in Roman Britain from at least the third century until the end of the Roman imperial administration in the early fifth century, and continued in western Britain. Religion in Roman Britain was generally polytheistic, inv ...

. There has been speculation that the site was regarded as a holy place in pagan times and that the construction of a church was done to Christianise it. (see note)

Notes and references

Notes :1. A shortened version of Kilburn's article can be accessed a
Dr. Plot and the Amazing Double Sunset
References

External links