St Leonard's Church, Sutton Veny

St Leonard's Church in Sutton Veny, Wiltshire, England, was built in the 12th century. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a Grade II listed building,[1] and is now a redundant church in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust.[2] It was declared redundant on 28 May 1970, and was vested in the Trust on 27 October 1971.[3]

St Leonard's Church
LocationSutton Veny, Wiltshire, England
Coordinates51°10′22″N 2°07′57″W
Built12th century
Listed Building – Grade II
Official nameChurch of St. Leonard
Designated11 September 1968[1]
Reference no.313442
Location of St Leonard's Church in Wiltshire

The cruciform church was started in the 12th century and revised in the 13th and 16th centuries,[1] and underwent a major restoration in 1831. It was originally linked to the Priory Church of St Mary, Abergavenny.[4] Subsidence because of low-lying damp ground caused further damage, which had been repaired by the addition of buttresses in the 14th and 15th century,[4] and by 1866 the decision was made to build a new church. This was dedicated to St John the Evangelist, designed by John Loughborough Pearson and built on higher ground 700 yards (640 m) to the north west, opening in 1868.[4]

Only the chancel remains in usable condition and was used as a mortuary chapel; it contains benefaction boards, a bier, a font, a bell and there are memorials on the walls.[2] The nave, transepts and crossing are ruined, and among the ruins stands a 12th-century doorway, possibly repositioned.[5][4]

There are two yew trees south east of the church. One which is now largely decayed has a girth of 14 feet 10 inches (4.52 m); it is not known how large it was when the tree was healthy.[6]

See also

References
  1. Historic England, "Church of St Leonard, Sutton Veny (1036423)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 15 January 2014
  2. St Leonard's Church, Sutton Veny, Wiltshire, Churches Conservation Trust, retrieved 15 April 2020
  3. Diocese of Salisbury: All Schemes (PDF), Church Commissioners/Statistics, Church of England, 2011, p. 10, retrieved 31 March 2011
  4. "Sutton Veny In: A History of the County of Wiltshire: Volume 8, Warminster, Westbury and Whorwellsdown Hundreds.", British History Online, Victoria County History, retrieved 4 September 2016
  5. "St Leonard, Sutton Veny, Wiltshire", Corpus of Romanesque Sculpture in Britain and Ireland, King's College London, retrieved 15 April 2020
  6. Hills, Tim, "St Leonard's Old Church" (PDF), Ancient Yews, retrieved 4 September 2016
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