St Leonard's Church is in

Sandridge Sandridge is a village and civil parish between the city centre of St Albans ( to the south-west) and Wheathampstead in Hertfordshire, England, forming part of the contiguous built-up area of St Albans. History The original name was "Saundruag ...

, a village in

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

, England. It 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 ...

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 ...

. The building is

Grade II* listed 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 ...

: notable features include its chancel arch made from recycled Roman brick.St Leonard, Sandridge
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History

Some sort of simple wooden church was probably made necessary in 796 when St Albans Abbey took possession of the Manor of Sandridge. However, the

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

does not mention the existence of a church at Sandridge.

Chancel arch, possible pre-Norman feature

The oldest surviving feature of the present church is possibly the semi-circular head of the arch between 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 ...

and the

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

, although the date of this uncertain. Historic England states that it is 11th century, but another theory is that it dates from 946. The brick may have come from a Roman site in the immediate vicinity of Sandridge or from Verulamium; the abbots of St. Albans are known to have had a stockpile of Roman brick, which was one of the materials used in the fabric of the abbey.Stalley, Roger. ''Early Medieval Architecture'',
Google Books link
, Oxford University Press, US, 1999, pp. 112–114, ().

Dedication of the church and Norman architecture

It was no later than 1119 that the church was consecrated and dedicated to St Leonard by

Herbert de Losinga Herbert de Losinga (died 22 July 1119) was the first Bishop of Norwich. He founded Norwich Cathedral in 1096 when he was Bishop of Thetford. Life Losinga was born in Exmes, near Argentan, Normandy, the son of Robert de LosingaDoubleday and Pa ...

, first Bishop of

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...

(he died in 1119), and that Sandridge became a parish. The

was enlarged and

aisle An aisle is a linear space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, in buildings such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, parliaments, courtrooms, ...

s were added between 1160 and 1180. On either side of the nave are three Norman arches. The

font In metal typesetting, a font is a particular size, weight and style of a ''typeface'', defined as the set of fonts that share an overall design. For instance, the typeface Bauer Bodoni (shown in the figure) includes fonts " Roman" (or "regul ...

is also thought to date from Norman times. The Early English pointed arch and the tower either built or re-modelled towards the end of the 13th century. The stone screen was added to the wall between the nave and the chancel towards the end of the 14th century. It is richly ornamented on the eastern side but plainer on the west as here there was a carved wooden screen with rood loft and

rood A rood or rood cross, sometimes known as a triumphal cross, is a cross or crucifix, especially the large crucifix set above the entrance to the chancel of a medieval church. Alternatively, it is a large sculpture or painting of the crucifixio ...

above and an altar on each side of the archway into the chancel. The chancel was re-built and lengthened in 1399 and the squared headed perpendicular windows replaced the narrower Norman windows in the aisles. The south doorway was also built. After the dissolution of the monasteries many valuable ornaments and fittings of the church were removed, and the church fell into neglect and decay. By 1638 the church was fitted with pews and the arrangement of these has lasted to modern times. A

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, accesse ...

was erected on the south side of the nave, the remains of which can be seen in the prayer desks in the sanctuary. The tower collapsed in 1692 or 1693 and the church wardens reported that the rebuilding would cost seven hundred pounds. Nothing was done beyond boarding up the arch in the west end and clearing away some of the rubble. The

clerestory A clerestory ( ; , also clearstory, clearstorey, or overstorey; from Old French ''cler estor'') is a high section of wall that contains windows above eye-level. Its purpose is to admit light, fresh air, or both. Historically, a ''clerestory' ...

of the nave and the roof were in a very bad state in 1710 but where patched up and made to serve until 1786. In 1786 the rotten walls of the clerestory were removed and the roof lowered and flattened out to rest on the Norman arches. Attic windows were put in and the wooden bell turret erected. Between 1836 and 1838 a tower was built. During 1886–1887 the architect William White restored the whole church to the state it exists in today. It cost £3800 and re-opened on 7 June 1887. The ring of bells was dedicated on 11 January 1890.

Organ

The organ was given by Mr and Mrs Kinder, Mr and Mrs Marten and Dr Griffith. It dates from about 1880 and was originally a single manual instrument. Before the church's restoration it stood in the chancel, then it was re-built under the tower. In 1914 the instrument was enlarged by Norman and Beard and re-built at the east end of the north aisle. At the same time the pulpit was moved to the north side of the chancel screen and the choir seated in the chancel. The inaugural recital was given in May 1914 by the organist of

Temple Church The Temple Church, a royal peculiar in the Church of England, is a church in the Inner Temple, Inner and Middle Temple, Middle Temple, London, Temples located between Fleet Street and the River Thames, built by the Knights Templar for their En ...

Walford Davies Sir Henry Walford Davies (6 September 1869 – 11 March 1941) was an English composer, organist, and educator who held the title Master of the King's Music from 1934 until 1941. He served with the Royal Air Force during the First World War, du ...

Lychgate

To the south of the churchyard is a

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 ...

. This structure, which with its flanking walls is a Grade II listed building, was erected after

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

as a memorial. Plaques list the names of the village's fallen soldiers and also the names of those who served and returned.

References

* H. R. Wilton Hall ''The History of Sandridge Church'', St Leonard's Church Sandridge, 800th Anniversary. * J. A. Cruikshank ''Some dates in the history of St Leonard's Church, Sandridge: a paper read at a meeting of the St Albans and Hertfordshire Architectural and Archeological Society, held at Sandridge, June 24, 1900''

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sandridge, St Leonard's Church Church of England church buildings in Hertfordshire Grade II* listed churches in Hertfordshire