| Blunsdon
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| St. Leonard's Church, Broad Blunsdon |
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| Drawn by: Madeline Newton. |
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| Information for this article is taken with grateful thanks from a booklet |
| by Brian Pearce in 2002. Which was researched from a book About |
| Blunsdon by Richard Radway, written together with Mrs E M Levinge in |
| 1976, and provided a good deal of information. |
| Welcome to the parish church of St Leonard in Broad Blunsdon. We hope |
| that if you have time to visit you will enjoy looking round this church. |
| It stands as a memorial to the vision and skill of earlier generations, and is |
| a reminder of the grandeur and love of God. |
| Here the people of Blunsdon have worshipped God for more than 700 |
| years. |
| The church is built from local limestone, and consists of a nave, a south |
| aisle, a chantry chapel - now the choir vestry - the chancel where the |
| communion table and choir stalls are situated, the tower and the |
| vestry.The church is built from local limestone, and consists of a nave, a |
| south aisle, a chantry chapel - now the choir vestry - the chancel where the |
| communion table and choir stalls are situated, the tower and the vestry. |
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| South door |
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South
aisle |
| You have entered the church through the south doorway and are standing in the south aisle, which is the original church, dating from the latter part of the 13th century. The main body of the church is of the 14th century and the tower was added in the 15th. In the Victorian period the church was heavily restored by Butterfield, but much of the original architecture remains. |
| Until 1867, St Leonard's, at that time being a very small parish, was administered by a curate from Highworth, the Revd Samuel Forbes Auchmuty. In that year he was appointed the first rector, and a large rectory was built for his use at the east end of the churchyard. |
| It was the Revd Auchmuty who initiated the restoration of the church in 1872, but he died before the work was started. The ancient coffer and box pews were taken away, the rood screen was moved to the entrance to the tower, and the Potenger Memorial was taken from the chancel wall and placed in the tower where it was largely unnoticed. |
| In 1998 repairs to the church were carried out and the roof tiles were replaced. The original roof tiles from quarries near Burford in Oxfordshire were re-used where possible, but the stone for the major part of the replacement tiles came from quarries in France. |
| The repairs were made possible by grants from English Heritage and the Historic Churches Trust, but a large amount of the money was raised by the people of Blunsdon, who bought tiles and dedicated them to family members. These dedications can be seen in the book which is kept in a cabinet near the lectern. The cabinet was built by Malcolm Hobday and the book was inscribed by Clive Moore, both of this village. |
| At this time the Potenger memorial was restored and moved to the north wall opposite the doorway. |
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| Potenger memorial |
| Page 2 |
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