St Leonard's Church is in the hamlet of Linley,

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to th ...

, England. It is a redundant church under the care of the Churches Conservation Trust. When it was in active use, the church was an

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the 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 community activities, ...

in the deanery of Telford Severn Gorge, the archdeaconry of Ludlow, and the diocese of Hereford. Its

benefice A benefice () or living is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The Roman Empire used the Latin term as a benefit to an individual from the Empire for services rendered. Its use was adopted by ...

has been united with those of All Saints, Broseley, St Bartholomew, Benthall, St Giles, Barrow, and St Mary, Jackfield. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

History

St Leonard's originated as a

chapel of ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church architecture, church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently. Often a chapel of ea ...

to Holy Trinity,

Much Wenlock Much Wenlock is a market town and parish in Shropshire, England, situated on the A458 road between Shrewsbury and Bridgnorth. Nearby, to the northeast, is the Ironbridge Gorge, and the new town of Telford. The civil parish includes the villag ...

in the 12th century, with the tower built later in the century. During the 19th century (before 1855) a pyramidal tower was added to the tower. The church was

restored ''Restored'' is the fourth studio album by American contemporary Christian music musician Jeremy Camp. It was released on November 16, 2004 by BEC Recordings. Track listing Standard release Enhanced edition Deluxe gold edition Standard ...

in 1858 by

Arthur Blomfield Sir Arthur William Blomfield (6 March 182930 October 1899) was an English architect. He became president of the Architectural Association in 1861; a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1867 and vice-president of the RIBA in ...

, during which the

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

windows were enlarged, the east wall was rebuilt and a new triple window inserted, new benches were installed, the floor was tiled, and a piscina was added in the

sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred place, such as a shrine. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This secondary use can be categorized into human sanctuary, a saf ...

. The church was declared redundant on 24 September 2007, and was vested in the Churches Conservation Trust on 15 July 2013.

Architecture

Exterior

The church is almost completely

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

in style. It is constructed in

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

with tiled roofs. The plan consists of a nave, a narrower and lower

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ove ...

, and a west tower. The tower is in two stages on a plinth, with

pilaster In classical architecture Classical architecture usually denotes architecture which is more or less consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or sometimes even more specifically, from the ...

buttress A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient buildings, as a means of providing support to act against the lateral (s ...

es supporting the lower stage. In the bottom stage is a straight-headed west window, and small round-headed windows on the north and south sides. The upper stage contains double bell openings. These are set in recessed twin arches, and above them is a

corbel In architecture, a corbel is a structural piece of stone, wood or metal jutting from a wall to carry a superincumbent weight, a type of bracket. A corbel is a solid piece of material in the wall, whereas a console is a piece applied to the s ...

table. On the summit is a pyramidal roof with a

weathervane A wind vane, weather vane, or weathercock is an instrument used for showing the direction of the wind. It is typically used as an architectural ornament to the highest point of a building. The word ''vane'' comes from the Old English word , m ...

. In the nave is a Norman south doorway with simple imposts and a tympanum decorated with zigzag bands. The blocked north doorway, also Norman, has a tympanum carved with a Green Man, a figure with its legs apart and foliage extending from its mouth. The windows in the nave are straight-headed. The windows in the north and south walls of the chancel are small and Norman. In the east wall of the chancel are three round-headed windows dating from the 19th-century restoration.

Interior

Inside the church the walls are plastered. The tower arch has semicircular

respond A respond is a half-pier or half-pillar that is bonded into a wall and designed to carry the springer Springer or springers may refer to: Publishers * Springer Science+Business Media, aka Springer International Publishing, a worldwide publishi ...

s, and

capitals Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...

decorated with volutes and beaded ornamental bands. The chancel arch is plainer, with simple imposts. Between the east windows are arches with scalloped capitals. In the south wall of the sanctuary is a piscina. The Norman

font In metal typesetting, a font is a particular size, weight and style of a typeface. Each font is a matched set of type, with a piece (a "sort") for each glyph. A typeface consists of a range of such fonts that shared an overall design. In mod ...

consists of a round tub, decorated around the rim with cable moulding. The exterior of the tub is carved with medallions, some of which are surrounded by bands originating from the mouths of demons, in the style of Green Men. The wooden

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, access ...

is polygonal in shape. On the east walls of the nave are metal

commandment Commandment may refer to: * The Ten Commandments * One of the 613 mitzvot of Judaism * The Great Commandment * The New Commandment * ''Commandment'' (album), a 2007 album by Six Feet Under * ''Commandments'' (film), a 1997 film starring Aidan Qui ...

boards. The

reredos A reredos ( , , ) is a large altarpiece, a screen, or decoration placed behind the altar in a church. It often includes religious images. The term ''reredos'' may also be used for similar structures, if elaborate, in secular architecture, for ex ...

, dating from about 1870, was designed by Harry Burrows; it is a triptych containing a cross and angels, and is painted on board. Also in the church is a hatchment dated 1803, and in the blocked north doorway is the grave slab of two

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

monks who died, respectively, in 1779 and 1803. The stained glass in the east windows, dated 1862, depicts the

Resurrection Resurrection or anastasis is the concept of coming back to life after death. In a number of religions, a dying-and-rising god is a deity which dies and is resurrected. Reincarnation is a similar process hypothesized by other religions, which ...

, and was designed by

William Warrington William Warrington, (1796–1869), was an English maker of stained glass windows. His firm, operating from 1832 to 1875, was one of the earliest of the English Medieval revival and served clients such as Norwich and Peterborough Cathedrals. W ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Linley, Saint Leonard Grade I listed churches in Shropshire Church of England church buildings in Shropshire English churches with Norman architecture 12th-century church buildings in England Churches preserved by the Churches Conservation Trust Arthur Blomfield church buildings

History

Architecture

Exterior

Interior

See also

References