Blithfield, Staffordshire

St. Leonard (parish church)

The church of St. Leonard is an edifice of stone in the Transition style, consisting of chancel, nave, aisles, south porch and an embattled western tower containing 6 bells, of which two were the gift of Hugh Lupus, Duke of Westminster, on the occasion of the coming of age of Lord Bagot, January 19th, 1878; and one being added in 1887: the chancel has a handsome marble reredos, carved oak communion table, and retains a double piscina and sedilia; there are two recumbent effigies in marble of Richard Bagot and his wife Mary, dated 1596, and on the north side of the chancel are two ancient altar tombs to the Bagot family, one of which, with kneeling effigies and arms, is inscribed to Sir Lewis Bagot, and Anne and Emma his wives, 1534; in the wall on the north side is a plain stone tablet inlaid with brass, in the form of a cross, with a border of the same inscribed to Harriet, widow of the Hon. and Right Rev. Richard Bagot, Bishop of Bath and Wells (1845-54), and some time rector of Blithfield: in the south aisle is a table to Thomas Townson D.D. rector of this parish from 1749 to 1759: in the vestry is an oak tablet bearing the arms of the Bagot family, from the 11th to the 16th century, and in the nave, hidden beneath the seats, is a broken alabaster slab with two male figures, apparently representing two sons of Thomas Colwiche of Colwich, esquires to Sir Lewis Bagot, and Joan, his wife, 1508: the windows, including the east window, are stained, and some retain glass of the 14th and 15th centuries: there is an ancient stone font with carved oak cover: some of the bench ends and the chancel screen, which are of the 15th century, are of oak and beautifully carved; the latter, together with the chancel stalls, was restored in 1880 in memory of the Rev. the Hon. H. C. Bagot, a former rector (d. 1879): the church was thoroughly repaired and restored in 1851: the organ was repaired and added to in 1897 by subscription of parishioners and friends, as a memorial to the late Lord and Lady Bagot: outside, on the south wall of the chancel, is a recumbent figure of Alfred de Blythfield, priest of Hulcrombe in the 12th century: there are 180 sittings. In the churchyard is an ancient cross, the shaft and head of which were restored in 1904.