October Visit to Herefordshire - Part 2: Harvest Festival at St Leonard's, Hatfield.

 

On Friday morning I drove along the lane to St Leonard's church at Hatfield as I had seen that they were holding a Harvest Festival there.

St Leonard's is the third oldest church in Herefordshire. The nave is C11th and may even be pre-Conquest in origin. The church was constructed partly of tufa and was extended  to the west in the C14th when the chancel was probably rebuilt.  There were restorations of the chancel in 1878 and the nave in 1903.

The bell turret may be medieval and the weather boarding was added in 1903.

(Sorry to repeat the history if you are a regular reader of this blog).

I really love this blocked north doorway with three stones on the lintel and a tympanum with Opus reticulatum  (ie square stones set diagonally).

Open timber porch partly C14th.

Churchyard to the rear.  In the Spring and summer it is a lovely example of a living churchyard where the grass and wild flowers are allowed to grow attracting butterflies and bees.

I'd only got trainers on and the grass was too wet to search for waxcaps. I know there is at least one species to be found there.

Flowers for the Harvest Festival had been left in the porch.

Norman tub font

which has been replaced by this unprepossessing font presumably installed during the 1903 restoration :(

There were flower displays on the windows and at the end of the pews.

Sorry the photos are quite poor - it was cloudy outside and the interior of the  church is quite dark.

Altar with more flowers and a pumpkin.

Looking down the nave towards the west gallery.

It is always good to have a look around St Leonard's - such a peaceful church in a lovely location.

In the afternoon we were supposed to have the gas boiler serviced but the engineer never turned up. We were not very happy as we had stayed in to wait for him. Apparently he was busy with emergencies!

We came home on the Saturday.

Photos taken by me with the Panasonic Lumix FZ330 bridge camera. (I don't particularly rate my photos but if anyone wishes to use one of mine or one of my son's I would be grateful for an email first - thanks).

Herefordshire 2023 - October Visit - Part 6: Harvest Festival at St Leonard's, Hatfield

 

We planned to return home on the Sunday but it was such a lovely day we ended up staying until early evening.  I'd seen a sign in the village of Hatfield that St Leonard's had a Harvest Festival Service on the Friday evening so on Sunday morning D and I went to look at any fruit and vegetable displays still there from the Service.

St Leonard's is the third oldest church in Herefordshire. The nave is C11th and may even be preConquest and is partly built of tufa which came from quarries near Stockton on Teme. The church was extended to the west in the C14th when the chancel was probably built.  The bell turret is possibly medieval but the weather boarding dates from 1903.

The open timber west porch is partly C14th.

Lovely Harvest Festival displays in the porch.

Plain Norman tub font 

The chancel was restored in 1878 and the nave in 1903. The Norman tub font was replaced with this one which in my opinion must be the worst font I have ever seen! Although the Harvest Festival decorations have improved it somewhat!

The more fancy monuments are mainly C17th tablets to the Colles family with cherubs and mourners.

Looking down the nave to the West Gallery. The box pews and gallery are Georgian.

The East Window is by Mayer and Company 1878.

Early Norman blocked north doorway with a lintel of three large joggled stones. The Typanum comprises Opus reticulatum (square stones set diagonally).

Late C11th herringbone masonry and

quoins made of tufa

Fox and Cubs still flowering on the churchyard wall.

St Leonard's is only about a quarter of mile away and I often go there just to wander round the churchyard which at the rear of the church is a delight in the summer with wild flowers and insects galore.

All photos taken by me with the Panasonic Lumix FZ330 bridge camera. (I don't particularly rate my photos but if anyone wishes to use one I would be grateful for an email first - thanks).

Reference: "Buildings of England Herefordshire"  by A Brookes and N Pevsner Yale University Press 2017