St Leodegar's Church, Hunston facts for kids
Quick facts for kids St Leodegar's Church |
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The church from the southwest
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 Location in West Sussex
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| 50°48′23″N 0°46′27″W / 50.8065°N 0.7742°W | |
| Location | Church Lane, Hunston, West Sussex |
| Country | England |
| Denomination | Anglican |
| History | |
| Status | Parish church |
| Founded | c. 12th century |
| Dedication | Leodegar |
| Consecrated | 22 October 1885 |
| Events | 25 March 1885: original ruined church demolished |
| Architecture | |
| Functional status | Active |
| Architect(s) | Arthur Blomfield |
| Style | Early English Gothic Revival |
| Groundbreaking | 1885 (present building) |
| Completed | 1885 (present building) |
| Construction cost | £4,500 (£348,000 in 2021)) |
| Administration | |
| Parish | Hunston |
| Deanery | Rural Deanery of Chichester |
| Archdeaconry | Archdeaconry of Chichester |
| Diocese | Diocese of Chichester |
St Leodegar's Church is a historic church in Hunston, England. It is the local Anglican parish church. Hunston is a small village in West Sussex. The church is named after Leodegar, a saint from the 7th century. This name is quite rare for churches in England.
The original church building was very old, dating back to the 12th century. It became very damaged over time. In 1885, it was taken down and a new church was built. The famous architect Arthur Blomfield designed the new building. He kept some parts of the old church. The new church is built in a style called Gothic Revival architecture. It has special features like a unique double bell tower.
Contents
A Look Back: The Church's History
Hunston is a village located near the city of Chichester. The area around it has been used for growing wheat for a long time. A church has been in Hunston since at least the 12th century. In 1105, the church was given to Lessay Abbey in France. This French connection might be why it was dedicated to Leodegar. Saint Leodegar was a bishop from France who lived in the 600s. He suffered greatly for his beliefs.
Boxgrove Priory, another religious house nearby, managed the church for many years. This continued until the English Reformation in the 1500s.
What the Old Church Looked Like
People wrote about the old church in the 1700s and 1800s. One rector, Charles Covert, worked on the chancel (the part of the church near the altar) between 1719 and 1759. An expert named Sir William Burrell, 2nd Baronet visited the church. He noted it had a chancel and a main area called a nave, with a side aisle.
Later, in a magazine called The Gentleman's Magazine, the church was described again. It had an old entrance from the 1100s with special patterns. The roof covered both the nave and the side aisle. There were tall, narrow windows called lancet windows. People said the church was "so decayed" that it would soon fall apart. Drawings from the 1800s also showed the church in very poor condition.
Building the New Church
By 1885, the church was in such bad shape that officials decided to build a new one. The old building was taken down starting on March 25, 1885. The site was then cleared for the new church. Arthur Blomfield was chosen as the architect. He had worked on another church nearby a few years before. Blomfield was a very busy church architect. He designed many churches in the Gothic Revival style.
Construction of the new St Leodegar's Church took about six months. On October 22, 1885, the new building was officially opened. It was blessed by the Bishop of Chichester. The church cost about £4,500 to build. This was a good amount of money for a small village church at the time. The money was raised by the local priest and his family. The new church could hold 100 people.
Who Owns the Church?
For a long time, Boxgrove Priory had the right to choose the priests for the church. This was on behalf of Lessay Abbey in France. After the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the 1500s, this right passed to different families. Today, St John's College, Cambridge is the patron of the church. This means they have the right to appoint the clergy.
The dedication to St Leodegar is very rare in England. Only five churches in the country are named after him. Hunston's church is the only one in all of Sussex.
Church Design and Features
The new St Leodegar's Church stands in the same spot as the old one. It is next to a manor house from the 1600s. While many old churches were repaired in the Victorian era, it was unusual to completely tear one down and rebuild it.
The church is made of stone and built in the Early English Gothic Revival style. It has a chancel, a nave (the main part where people sit) without side aisles, a small room called a vestry, an entrance porch, and a fancy bellcote (a small structure holding bells). All the windows are tall, narrow lancets.
Some old burial vaults from the ancient church are still there. They are now in the churchyard. The new church was built narrower, so the old south aisle was not included. The bellcote holds two bells from the old church. It also has carved gargoyles, which are decorative water spouts. Inside, a tall arch separates the nave and the chancel. The main east window has three lancet windows set into a special arch.
Stained Glass and Other Details
The church has beautiful stained glass windows made by James Powell and Sons. They were put in between 1885 and 1892. The windows show scenes from a famous Christian hymn called the Te Deum. These scenes include the Ascension (Jesus going to heaven), angels, the Apostles, and Christian saints. James Powell also created the reredos, which is a decorative screen behind the altar.
Other features include a font for baptisms, which looks like it's from the Norman period but was made in the 1800s. There is also a piscina (a basin for washing sacred vessels) that uses a carved bowl from the 1200s.
What People Think of the Design
Architectural experts have different opinions about Blomfield's design. Some have called it "spiky" or "fussy." One famous architectural historian, Nikolaus Pevsner, was not very impressed. He wrote that "very few Sussex churches" have nothing special about them, and he felt this was one of them.
Images for kids
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A plaque in the lychgate of the churchyard explains St Leodegar's story.
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The nave has no side aisles, and there is a south porch.
See also
