Description

MARSTON

603/16/1 CHURCH OF ST LEONARD
15-JAN-68

II
DATES OF MAIN PHASES, NAME OF ARCHITECT: Parish church of 1794 by W. Dudley, with vestry added late C19 or early C20.

MATERIALS: Ashlar local grey sandstone, chancel of hand-moulded brick, tile roofs. Some of the masonry has been re-used.

PLAN: Nave with lower and narrower chancel, north vestry, west porch, west bellcote

EXTERIOR: The nave has 3 large round-headed south windows, and blank north side with a single buttress. The brick porch has diagonal buttresses and a 4-centred arch to a ribbed door. A simple gabled timber bellcote has louvres in each face. The chancel has a round-headed east window. On the north side the vestry has a 2-light small-pane casement window.

INTERIOR: The plain interior has flat plaster ceilings and plastered round-headed chancel arch. Walls are plastered. The floor is laid with tiles, with parquet floors below benches.

PRINCIPAL FIXTURES: The alabaster font and lectern form a pair, dated 1933. Other fixtures are also probably earlier C20, including plain benches, pulpit with open Gothic tracery, and communion rail with a frieze of quatrefoils. The east and one south window are by William Pearce of Birmingham of the early C20; the former depicts the Good Shepherd.

SUBSIDIARY FEATURES: A tub font with C19 tool marks survives in the churchyard.

HISTORY: The church was built in 1794 by William Dudley, possibly re-using older masonry for the nave. The brick porch and chancel have pecked surfaces, suggesting that they were intended to be rendered. A vestry was added in the late C19 or early C20. Fittings belong to the early C20.

SOURCES:
N. Pevsner, The Buildings of England: Staffordshire, 1974, p 202.

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION:
The church of St Leonard, Marston, is listed Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* For the architectural interest of a well-preserved small, simple late C18 village church.

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26535678

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Pevsner's Architectural Glossary (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
• 
  Historic Environment Law: Planning, Listed Buildings, Monuments, Conservation Areas and Objects by Harwood, Richard (2012) Paperback
• 
  This Old House: Restoring, Rehabilitating, and Renovating an Older House
• 
  Gwent/Monmouthshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Wales)
• 
  Dorset (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Liverpool: Pevsner City Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: City Guides)