St Leonard's Church, Bledington

St Leonard's stands on Church Street in Bledington, the Gloucestershire village across the Evenlode from Kingham. It is a church of about 1170, rebuilt and enlarged in the fifteenth century, and it keeps much of its fifteenth-century painted glass, one panel dated 1470. It is listed Grade I and normally open every day.

History

St Leonard's history runs from a Norman chapel on Winchcombe Abbey's land to a lavish fifteenth-century rebuilding. The first record of a church here is a papal confirmation of 1175 listing all the churches of Winchcombe Abbey, and the parish dates the church to about 1170. The east and west walls of the nave are said to be twelfth-century, and so is the tub font. The church is dedicated to Leonard of Noblac, a French abbot of the fifth century, the parish says.

The fifteenth century

The Victoria County History sets out how the church grew. It dates the chancel, the nave arcade and the south porch to the thirteenth century, and some windows to the fourteenth. The tower came first in the fifteenth-century work (the listing dates it to the fourteenth century): rather than being added at the west end, it was built inside the nave, its base using the nave's west wall, so that it cuts up through the roof. Then the nave roof was raised and a clerestory added to light it, and most of the windows were replaced. A small recess off the chancel, lit by a three-light window, has been suggested as a chantry chapel, though no record of a chantry here is known. The painted glass dates from this time.

The glass

Fifteenth-century glass fills the eight windows on the north side of the nave and a recessed window in the chancel, some of it in nearly complete panels. One panel carries the date 1470. Both the listing and the Victoria County History suggest it may be the work of John Prudde of Westminster, though no document proves it.

Restorations

J. E. K. Cutts restored the church in 1881, and it was reseated in 1904; the parish says a churchwarden of the day made the pulpit and vestry screen at about that time. F. E. Howard restored the church again in about 1923.

What to see

Outside, look up at the gable for the small bellcote of two round arches, which the listing dates to the twelfth century (the Victoria County History is less sure), and at the tower, with a large diamond-shaped clock face marked V.R. 1891, for Queen Victoria. On the south-west corner of the aisle is a scratch sundial, and on the porch buttress you can just make out traces of two small mass dials, used to mark the times of services.

Inside, the nave arcade stands on squat round piers. The glass in the north windows is the thing to see, best on a bright day. Look also for the tub-shaped Norman font, an early wrought-iron stand that once held an hourglass to time the sermon, fifteenth-century carved bench ends, and the little recess thought to have been a chantry chapel. The bell chamber is open to the nave, and the parish says its six bells are still rung regularly.

Visiting

The church is normally open every day and free, with donations welcome, and a short guide is available inside. The parish lists it as dog friendly. On the first Sunday of the month the benefice service is held at Oddington rather than here. We have no access statement for the building.

Getting there

The church is on Church Street, which leads off Bledington's green, near the Oxfordshire border. There is no car park at the church, so park considerately in the village. Kingham station, on the Cotswold Line from London Paddington, is across the river in Oxfordshire.

The National Landscape's car-free circular from Kingham station follows the Evenlode to Bledington's green and the King's Head; our walk Kingham, Daylesford and the Evenlode stays on the Kingham side of the river, crossing the railway at the Bledington foot crossing.

Nearby

The King's Head Inn is on the green, a few minutes' walk away. Across the River Evenlode in Kingham, St Andrew's Church is the next village church, with The Wild Rabbit beside it and The Kingham Plough on the green. To the north are St Nicholas', Lower Oddington, with its great Doom painting, and the Adlestrop railway sign.