St Edward the Confessor's Church, Leek

St Edward the Confessor's Church, Leek
53°06′25″N 2°01′35″W / 53.1069°N 2.0265°W / 53.1069; -2.0265Coordinates: 53°06′25″N 2°01′35″W / 53.1069°N 2.0265°W / 53.1069; -2.0265
OS grid reference SJ 983 566
Location Leek, Staffordshire
Country England
Denomination Church of England
History
Dedication St Edward the Confessor
Architecture
Heritage designation Grade II*
Administration
Diocese Diocese of Lichfield

St Edward the Confessor's Church is an active Anglican church in Leek, Staffordshire, England. The building, which dates back to the 13th century, is listed Grade II*.[1]

Much of the church's appearance reflects two 19th century restorations. The first was by Ewan Christian, who in 1847 was appointed consulting architect to the Lichfield Diocesan Building Society. He went on to carry out many more restorations as architect to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners. The church's second restoration was by George Edmund Street, a leading practitioner of the Victorian Gothic Revival. There is stained glass made by Morris and Co, including a couple of designs by George Frederick Bodley.[2] The church owns examples of the work of the Leek School of Embroidery which was founded in 1879/1880 by the embroideress Lady Elizabeth Wardle and her husband Sir Thomas Wardle.[3] One of the windows is a memorial to her.[1]

Churchyard

The churchyard contains two crosses which are preserved as Ancient Monuments.

The churchyard is notable as a place for viewing a double sunset. The phenomenon was first described by Robert Plot in a 1686 publication,[4] but would have been visible before the arrival of Christianity in Roman Britain, and well before the construction of a church on the site. It has been suggested that the site was a holy place in pagan times before being Christianised.[5] (see note1)

Notes and references

Notes

    1.^ A shortened version of Kilburn's article can be accessed at Dr. Plot and the Amazing Double Sunset.

    References

    1. 1 2 Historic England, "Church of St Edward the Confessor (1268646)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 4 April 2018
    2. ↑ "North rose window: St Edward the Confessor, Leek". The Victorian Web. Retrieved 2018-03-28.
    3. ↑ "Thomas Wardle". BBC Stoke & Staffordshire. Retrieved 2018-03-29.
    4. ↑ The Natural History of Staffordshire. Oxford University Press. The first edition has been described as "scarce", but the book has been reprinted by other publishers.
    5. ↑ Kilburn, Kevin J. (1999), "Dr Plot and the amazing double sunset", Astronomy & Geophysics, 40 (1): 1.20–1.22, doi:10.1093/astrog/40.1.1.20
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