St Leonard's Church is a

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

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 ...

Wollaton Wollaton is a suburb and former civil parish in the western part of Nottingham, in the Nottingham district, in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire, England. Wollaton has two wards in the City of Nottingham (''Wollaton East & Lenton Abbey'' ...

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...

, England. Dating originally from the 13th century, the church was restored in the

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed the ...

and again in the 20th century. It is notable for the large number of

funerary monument Funerary art is any work of art forming, or placed in, a repository for the remains of the dead. The term encompasses a wide variety of forms, including cenotaphs ("empty tombs"), tomb-like monuments which do not contain human remains, and comm ...

s it contains. Many are to the

Willoughby family Baron Willoughby de Eresby ( ) is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1313 for Robert de Willoughby. Since 1983, the title has been held by Jane Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby, 28th Baroness Willoughby de Eresby. History The ...

, of nearby

Wollaton Hall Wollaton Hall is an Elizabethan country house of the 1580s standing on a small but prominent hill in Wollaton Park, Nottingham, England. The house is now Nottingham Natural History Museum, with Nottingham Industrial Museum in the outbuilding ...

. There is also a memorial to

Robert Smythson Robert Smythson ( – 15 October 1614) was an English architect. Smythson designed a number of notable houses during the Elizabethan era. Little is known about his birth and upbringing—his first mention in historical records comes in 1556, when ...

, designer of the hall, and one of the first English

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

s. The church is a

Grade II* listed building 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, Hi ...

History

St. Leonard's dates from at least the early 13th century, the chancel being the earliest part, with the nave and tower dating from the 14th century. The Wollaton Antiphonal was in use in the church from the 1460s. The church has a long connection with the Willoughby family of

who were the patrons of the parish. Monuments to the family, including a tomb chest and effigies to Henry Willoughby and his wives.

Clock

In 1892 the old clock which was described as being of a great age and entirely worn out was replaced by a turret clock built by

Potts of Leeds Potts of Leeds was a major British manufacturer of public clocks, based in Leeds, Yorkshire, England. History William Potts was born in December 1809 and was apprenticed to Samuel Thompson, a Darlington clockmaker. In 1833, at the age of 2 ...

. This new clock had a double three-legged gravity escapement as invented by Lord Grimthorpe The time was shown on cast iron skeleton glazed with white opal glass which was illuminated by gas lamps at night. The clock mechanism was replaced in 1991 when the Potts clock was given to Leeds Industrial Museum.

Memorials

The church contains an "exceptional number" of memorials. These include: *Richard Willoughby who died in 1471 *Henry Willoughby of 1528 * Henry Willoughby, 5th Baron Middleton 1800 * Henry Willoughby, 6th Baron Middleton 1835 *

- his monument describes him as " Gent.,

Architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

or and Survayor" and is possibly by Smythson's son, John.

References

Sources

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External links