St Leonard's Without

The church of St Leonard's Without is a small chapel built between 1230 and 1240 in the parish of Kirkstead, Lincolnshire, close to Woodhall Spa.

The West front of St Leonard's Without

The chapel lies close to the now ruined Kirkstead Abbey founded in 1139, and its name refers to its being 'without' (outside) the walls of the monastery.

A Grade I listed building,[1] it is an excellent example of the Early English style. Even though measuring only 12.8 metres (42 ft) by 5.8 metres (19 ft), it is up to “Cathedral standards” of construction and may well have been built as a chantry chapel in memory of Robert de Tattershall, who died in 1212. After use for many centuries as a church, it closed in 1877, when a Presbyterian congregation was evicted, and from 1883 the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings fought to save it from total decay. Eventually during 1913 and 1914 it was restored by the architect Weir.

References
  1. Historic England. "Church of St Leonard, Woodhall Spa (1288191)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 4 February 2018.

See also

Media related to St Leonard's Without, Kirkstead at Wikimedia Commons


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