Church of St Leonard, Butleigh explained

Church Of St Leonard
Coordinates:51.1025°N -2.6869°W
Location:Butleigh, Somerset, England
Built:14th century
Designation1:Grade II* listed building
Designation1 Date:22 November 1966[1]
Designation1 Number:1058773

The Anglican Church Of St Leonard in Butleigh, within the English county of Somerset, was built in the 14th century. It is a Grade II* listed building.[1] [2]

The earliest church on the site was from the Anglo-Saxon period and part of this may still form part of the door. At the time of the Domesday Book the church and village were property of Glastonbury Abbey.[3] [4]

The stone church underwent Victorian restoration and was extended in the middle of the 19th century for George Neville-Grenville by John Chessell Buckler who installed a new hammerbeam roof.[1] [3]

Inside the church is a 15th-century octagonal font and a Jacobean altar table along with several monuments and memorials. The largest, by Lucius Gahagan includes a poem by Robert Southey and is to three seafaring Hood brothers including Admiral Alexander Hood, 1st Viscount Bridport and Admiral Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood who were the sons of the Vicar of Butleigh.[3] [5] [6] There is also a Hood family chest tomb in the churchyard.[7]

The parish is part of the benefice of Baltonsborough with Butleigh, West Bradley and West Pennard within the Diocese of Bath and Wells.[3]

Notable interments

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Church of St Leonard. Historic England. 31 October 2015.
  2. Web site: Church of St. Leonard . historicengland.org.uk . 24 October 2007.
  3. Web site: St Leonard, Butleigh. A Church Near You. Church of England. 31 October 2015.
  4. Web site: Siraut. M. C.. Thacker. A. T.. Williamson. Elizabeth. Parishes: Butleigh. British History Online. Victoria Coumnty History. 31 October 2015.
  5. Book: Hore. Peter. Nelson's Band of Brothers: Lives and Memorials. 2015. Seaforth Publishing. 9781848327795. 24–25.
  6. Web site: Church Memorials. Butleigh. 31 October 2015.
  7. Web site: Hood family monument, 24 metres south of nave, Church of St. - Leonard. National Heritage List for England. Historic England. 31 October 2015.
  8. Web site: St Leonard.