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which has been replaced by this unprepossessing font presumably installed during the 1903 restoration :(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 - Part 1: St Leonard's church, Hatfield

 E is on holiday and wanted to go to the caravan for a few days.  We arrived last Wednesday - B wanted to do the click and collect on Thursday am instead of rushing off when we arrived so I decided to visit St Leonard's nearby and see what was flowering in the churchyard.

Lesser Celandine on the bank opposite the church,

Ground Ivy

Dog's Mercury

I visit St Leonard's a lot so apologies for repeating what some of you will have heard several times before!

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

There were Primroses and Daisies scattered all over the churchyard.

A lovely display of daffodils at the rear of the church.

The open timber porch is partly C14th.

Although I visit the churchyard regularly I haven't been inside the church for a few years so I decided to have a look round.

Norman tub font which unfortunately has been replaced by this

rather unprepossessing one!

 

Looking along the nave towards the chancel.

This is a display of the old gear of a C13th church bell including elm head stock, nailed sheerbands, stock hoops, wooden chiming gear and pulley.

West Gallery

Memorials

Most fittings are from the restorations including the pulpit.

Chancel

Memorials also include C17th tablets for the Colles family.

Kneeler - I forgot to look in the pews to see if there were any more.

Piscina

East Window by Mayer and Co 1878

Daffodils on the verge by the farm opposite the church.

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 of mine or my son's I would be grateful for an email first - thanks)

Reference: 

Buildings of England Herefordshire, by Alan Brooks and Nikolaus Pevsner Yale University Press.