St Leonard's Church, Bridgnorth 2.89

St Leonard's Church is a redundant Anglican church in Bridgnorth, Shropshire, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building, and is under the care of the Churches Conservation Trust.HistoryThe present church originated in the 12th century. There is no mention of a church at Bridgnorth in the Domesday Book, but it is likely that there was an earlier church on the site because Anglo-Saxon and Norman stonework has been incorporated into the fabric of the present church. A tower was added to it in 1448. During the Civil War the Roundheads used the north aisle of the church to store ammunition, and this was ignited by a shot from a cannon in 1646. As a result, the north aisle and the eastern part of the south aisle were destroyed. The roof of the nave was rebuilt in 1662, but the aisles were not fully restored at that time. In 1826 the chancel was repaired by Thomas Rickman, and it was further restored in 1846–47 by F. J. Francis. A major reconstruction of the church was undertaken from 1860 by W. Slater and R. H. Carpenter. They rebuilt the church in Geometrical style rather than in the Perpendicular style of the earlier church. In 1870–73 Slater and Carpenter substantially rebuilt the tower, this time in Perpendicular style. An octagonal library was added to the north side of the chancel in 1878. By the 1970s the tower had become unsafe, and in 1976 the church was declared redundant. It was vested in the Churches Conservation Trust in 1980.