Parts of St Leonard's—the chancel and tower—date from the 16th century.[1] The nave from this period was replaced in 1795–1798 and transepts were added in 1815–1816.[2]Restoration work took place in 1856.[1] In 1864 the chancel was restored by E. G. Paley at the expense of Sir Henry de Hoghton and Richard Assheton; it was re-roofed, re-floored and refitted, and a reredos in Bath stone was added.[3] The nave and transepts were completely rebuilt in 1902–1906 by John Pollard Seddon; St Leonard's was his final project.[2] The new nave and transepts were built on almost the same plan as the previous ones because of the close proximity of graves surrounding the church.[1]
St Leonard's sits on a piece of high ground close to the banks of both the River Ribble and the River Darwen.[1] It is constructed of stone in the Perpendicular style; its roofs are slate.[4] The plan consists of a nave, chancel, transepts, a west tower and a north porch.[1] The tower is of four stages and has angled buttresses and a crenellatedparapet.[4] On the west side there is a three-light, four-centred, arched window with Perpendicular tracery.[4] There are three-light belfrylouvres, also with tracery.[1] There are clock faces on the south and west walls.[1] The tower is entered through a pointed door to the west that has mouldings at the head and door jambs.[1]
The wide nave has two bays and double transepts.[4] They were constructed from the material (local Hoghton stone) of the same parts that were replaced in the early 20th century.[2] Like the tower, the nave and transepts are buttressed and have crenellated parapets.[4] The chancel is lower than the rest of the building and is plain, without buttresses or crenellations.[1][2] It has a moulded, chamferedplinth.[4] There is a priest's door on the south side.[4]
The east window is arched with three trefoiled lights and tracery; other windows in the church have pointed lights and foiled heads.[2][4] More recent tracery matches the older work on the tower windows.[2]
Interior and fittings
Internally, the nave is 60 feet (18 m) by 42 feet (13 m).[1] The walls are faced with sandstone from Runcorn.[4] The size of the double transepts gives the impression of the church being longer internally north–south than it is east–west.[4] There is a gallery on the west side, accessed from a stone staircase in the porch.[1]
In the chancel, there is a plaster panel from 1634 with the coat of arms of the Assheton family of Cuerdale Hall and a brass memorial from 1770 to the wife of Ralph Assheton.[1]Stained glass in the church includes the east window from 1850 by Birmingham firm Hardman & Co. and later work by Lancaster firm Shrigley and Hunt.[2]
Brandwood, Geoff; Austin, Tim; Hughes, John; Price, James (2012), The Architecture of Sharpe, Paley and Austin, Swindon: English Heritage, ISBN978-1-84802-049-8
