St. Nicholas Church - Leeds |
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The Church of Saint Nicholas at Leeds was already well-established in Anglo-Saxon times, the current nave being just a little larger than the entire Saxon church. When the Normans arrived they made major changes, including the massive twelfth century tower, one of the county’s best half-dozen examples. The Normans’ Doomsday Survey of 1086 recorded nearby one of only three vineyards then in the whole of Kent. In 1492 John Brandon bequeathed money for reparation of the church steeple and 260 years later Edward Harrison the Curate wrote peevishly that -the steeple was till’d, the church adorned, the chancel enriched and the curate impoverish’t. Inside the tower the ringing chamber has seen regular strenuous activity for centuries. The ten bells are housed in an ancient oak frame, one of the earliest surviving ten-bell frames in the UK. The youngest six bells are 256 years old; three are dated 1751; the biggest and oldest, the tenor, was made in 1617 by Joseph Hatch, a local bellfounder of great fame. The tower houses a 277 year-old clock, also made locally. The church organ is a young instrument by comparison, built and installed in 1833 and paid for by public subscription at £399. The nave’s crown-post roof dates from the fifteenth century; let into the nave’s floor are two brasses, one commemorating William Merden who died in 1509, the other Katherine Lambe who died in 1514. The chandelier was donated by John Saxby, who died in 1778. Saint Nicholas boasts a most impressive rood screen. This is a finely carved wooden wall, separating nave from chancel and extending across the entire width of the church. It contains eleven bays and three entranceways. Some of the church’s silver plate is on display in the chapel at Leeds Castle, one flagon weighing 1340 grams and dated 1750. The ancient registers and other records can be seen at the Centre for Kentish Studies in Maidstone. The churchyard is extensive, running to four acres. Its natural meadow grasses are attractive at any time but excel in spring when naturalised bulbs of snowdrop and narcissus produce spectacular, successive swathes of colour. CAFÉ IN THE PORCH - Free tea, coffee, soft drinks and snacks have been available at a café in Leeds since April 26th last year. Parents and carers of schoolchildren at Leeds Primary School often arrive early to collect pupils. There is now a haven from the winter cold and the summer heat during their wait. Just across from the school, a hearty welcome awaits them in the porch of Saint Nicholas’ Church. Café in the Porch is run by the Parochial Church Council, is open at 2.30pm every Thursday during school terms and stays open until about 4pm. After school a dozen or more children will be seen dragging their carers into the free café for a cake, a biscuit, a drink and an enthusiastic exploration of their very own parish church, before they have to return home. |
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