Church of St Leonard, Chapel-St-Leonards

The Church of St Leonard in the seaside village of Chapel-St-Leonards (how delightful!) is one of those peculiar church buildings which I have difficulty dating. Although I am increasingly aware of my mental inadequacies, I still enjoy the challenge of correctly dating a given building and feel frustrated when I cannot or do so correctly. St Leonard’s did not feel like a standard Victorian construction but neither did its fabric appear terribly old. I thought the font might be medieval, but, alas, it was  merely Victorian. As well as a peculiar inside which I called neo-perpendicular, it has a strange, asymmetrical tower with a red, tiled roof. Later research revealed that it had an Elizabethan foundation, was rebuilt in the 1790s and extended under Victoria, including that strange tower. So I failed to solved the puzzle, but it was a reassuringly hard one to solve.

Curiously, little candles were left by the entrance, a note offering them to visitors, gratis. It would seem that they were not deemed sufficiently safe to leave burning, and the church wardens rightly rejected the wastefulness of throwing them away. So I now have a St Leonard's Church, Chapel-St-Leonards candle ready to burn this winter.

I was reminded of our taking Christ’s light with us when church we leave. Our workplaces, homes and even families are sometimes the darkest areas of our lives; well might we take a spark of Sunday’s truth and hope with us when we go home after worship.

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. Matthew 5:16