St Leonard's Church, Sutton Veny
The cruciform church was started in the 12th century and revised in the 13th and 16th centuries, and underwent a major restoration in 1831. It was originally linked to the Priory Church of St Mary, Abergavenny. 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, 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.
Only the chancel remains in usable condition and was used as a mortuary chapel; it contains benefaction boards, a bier, a font, and a bell, and there are memorials on the walls. The nave, transepts and crossing are ruined, and among the ruins stands a 12th-century doorway, possibly repositioned.
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.
See also
References
- ^ Historic England, "Church of St Leonard, Sutton Veny (1036423)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 15 January 2014
- ^ St Leonard's Church, Sutton Veny, Wiltshire, Churches Conservation Trust, retrieved 15 April 2020
- ^ Diocese of Salisbury: All Schemes (PDF), Church Commissioners/Statistics, Church of England, 2011, p. 10, retrieved 31 March 2011
- ^ "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
- ^ "St Leonard, Sutton Veny, Wiltshire". The Corpus of Romanesque Sculpture in Britain and Ireland. King's College London. Retrieved 6 May 2023.
- ^ Hills, Tim, "St Leonard's Old Church" (PDF), Ancient Yews, retrieved 4 September 2016
External links
Media related to St Leonard's Church, Sutton Veny at Wikimedia Commons
- Aerial video of the site, 2015, via YouTube