A Church Guide to St Leonard's Church Chesham Bois

GENERAL HISTORY of the CHURCH of ST LEONARD’S CHESHAM BOIS

While Amersham and Chesham both appear in the Domesday Book of 1086, the earliest references to Chesham Bois are c.1200. By that time Chesham had been divided into three manors, one of which was Chesham Bois, held by William de Bosco, or Bois. William's surname probably derived from the great woods which then crowned the hillside.

 A chapel had been established on this site in Chesham Bois by 1213 and in 1215, the year of Magna Carta, the Lord of the Manor, William de Bosco presented William de Risemberghe, or Riseborough, to the Vicarage of the ‘Chapel of St Leonard of Chesham’ - the church of Chesham Bois.  (St Leonard of Limoges died c 559 and is the patron saint of prisoners and pregnant women)

Legally the church belonged to that part of Chesham Parish Church appropriated to the Abbot of St Mary Pre, Leicester, who endowed it with tithes so that it was financially independent.

Following a disagreement in 1213, William de Bosco and his successors obtained the right to nominate the chaplain, subject to the Abbot's formal approval. As a 'donative of peculiar jurisdiction’, the incumbent was not subject to the local bishop (Bishop of Lincoln), and the patron had the right of both presentation and induction (actual possession) to the living. With modifications over the years, this right was thereafter exercised by the Lords of the Manor of Chesham Bois until sold in 1880 by the Duke of Bedford to the Peache Trustees, the present patrons. The church is now part of the Diocese of Oxford under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Oxford and his suffragan, the Bishop of Buckingham.

The chapel acquired the right of burial in the 14th and 15th centuries, being first referred to as the Parish Church of Chesham Bois in 1470.

The first registers date from 1562, twenty four years after Thomas Cromwell's decree. They are now deposited, like all the old church records, in the local Diocesan (County) Archives, in this case, in Aylesbury,

The first marriage entry is John Cheyne to his second wife Joice. The Cheyne family became Lords of the Manor in 1445. Sir Thomas Cheyne became a noted Lollard (follower of the Reformer, John Wycliffe) and was imprisoned in the Tower of London earlier that century because of his beliefs. The Cheynes remained Lords of the Manor until the family line ceased in 1728, and as such paid all church expenses!

This Sir Thomas was a remarkable character, even in his vigour and originality, and his eulogy by Holinshed is worth quoting : “ He kept so bountiful a house and was so liberall and good to his men that well was that nobleman’s son, or gentleman’s son or other that might happen to be preferred into his service.”    ref:

THE BUILDING

The original 13th century chapel, made of local flints with chalk dressings, is now the chancel (the area containing the original communion rail and choir seating at the extreme east end of the building) and measured some 20 feet by 14 feet (7m x 2m).

The south wall, as far as the doorway, dates from the 14th century, when the chapel was enlarged; like the chancel these are "battered" walls, i.e. thicker at the base, to avoid the need for buttresses. The north wall of the church originally ran along the line of the pillars.

A tower was built during the 17th century on the walls at the west end, containing three bells;

A gallery was built, and enlarged in 1823 so that it covered half the nave (central seating area).

A vestry (subsequently the organ chamber, the space behind today’s organ) was added in 1841, incorporating a 14th century window.

In 1881 the church was largely reconstructed, having fallen into decay, the tower being demolished together with the gallery. A north aisle was added, the 14th century windows being incorporated into the new north wall. The 13th century chancel arch, small, much deteriorated and lacking foundations, was replaced and re-erected over the south-west entrance gate to the churchyard, until decay caused its removal in the middle of 1950’s. The remains can be seen today at the edge of the car park. The roof was boarded with deal in place of the original stained oak and the whole building tiled. In 1885 a new tower was added on the south-west corner.

In 1911 the church was extended at the back beyond the south door and a new clergy vestry built.

The tiles to the north aisle roof, which because of the shallow pitch were letting in rainwater, were replaced with slate.

In 1955 a choir vestry was added which was extended in 1969 to form the Birkett Room, named in memory of Alvin Birkett, Rector from 1945 to 1964.

In 1961 a second door was placed in the north wall.

In 2001 the choir pews were removed and the chancel floor boarded.

INSIDE THE CHURCH – starting in the sanctuary, the area at the front inside the rails.

The east window with its three pointed lancets was damaged by air raids in 1940, and was restored in 1948 using a mixture of original 14th century glass, late 15th century glass, given by the Salmond family, and modern glass.

The three chancel windows retain their Early English (13th century) arches, but most of the glass is modern. Two have the shields of the Cheyne family (formerly in the East window) with dates and initials; In the quatrefoils are the initials XC and IC, the Greek and Latin abbreviations for Jesus Christ. The other window shows the Sower and Ruth and was installed in 1913.

All three windows were restored in 1948 in memory of Thomas Fitzpatrick, Rector from 1906 to 1923, and members of the Salmond family.

The Communion Table is oak, late 17th century, with five supports twisted in clusters of four and apparently carved out of a solid block. The panelling behind was put up in 1967,  the earlier oak panelling had, by 1881, become “a refuge for scores of bats!”. The two chairs in the sanctuary are made from four 15th century pew bench ends taken from the old west gallery and from oak panelling formerly in the chancel.  The faces which decorated the chairs were destroyed, probably in Cromwell's time, and replaced with carved oak leaves; the ornamentation on the back edges has also been replaced with plain caps. The communion rails are Jacobean, taken down from the earlier gallery at the west end, and have twisted balusters and “poppyhead” ends.

The floor of the sanctuary includes some ancient burnt clay tiles probably dating from the 13th century medieval period, together with four tombstones in black marble from the 17th century, three relating to the Cheyne family.

The tomb on the north side of the sanctuary is that of John Cheyne, who died in 1585. It has a top of Purbeck marble (not Verona as previously thought) and sides of clunch. The side panels display the coats of arms of the Cheyne family and the Insignia of the Order of the Garter of which John Cheyne was a Knight. John Cheyne was one of the Reformers and his nephew was probably the son of Richard Grafton, printer of the ‘Great Bible’ of 1539. A wall plaque, in Latin, above John Cheyne's tomb remembers him for his generosity. The Cheynes had considerable local and national influence, another family member marrying the Earl of Southampton and Lord Chancellor of England, dying in 1574 and buried in the vaults at Titchfield, Hampshire.

On the opposite wall is a memorial to Thomas Clarke, erected by his pupils and parishioners. Rector from 1767 until his death in 1793, he trained many leaders of the Evangelical Revival.

An Gray and Davidson pipe organ, dating from 1865 was installed in 1919. The Allen electronic organ was installed in 1985.

On the floor of the chancel are brasses of Elizabeth and Robert Cheyne (who died in 1516 and 1552 respectively) which show the contrast between pre and post Reformation styles.

A third, rare, brass is of their grandson, Benedict Lee, a ‘Chrysom Child’ (i.e. buried wrapped in his baptismal cloth) who died c 1542, and which is believed to be the only known brass in existence with the word "chrysom" in the inscription (this is now removed for safe keeping).

In 2001 the chancel was refurbished and the oak choir stalls, installed at the time of the 1911 extension, were removed and the stone floor covered with removable wooden flooring.

The roof of the chancel and nave has curved wind braces and moulded arch trusses supported by stone corbels, those in the chancel dating from the 15th century. The centre corbels on each side of the chancel depict the Cheyne shields supported by angels; there are heads of bishops in the south-east and southwest corners, (possibly representing Lincoln and Oxford) and heads of a monk and of a bearded man (possibly St Leonard and the chief architect/mason) in the north-east and north-west corners.

The nave corbels generally show angels carrying shields, but the bearded head re-appears in the northeast corner. Towards the rear are fishes with the word in Greek, "Ichthus', whose letters stand for "Jesus Christ, Son of God, Saviour", and on the south side of the church the Agnus Del (Lamb with flag) and a pelican feeding its young with its own blood, a symbol of Christ and the Church.

The pulpit is early Jacobean oak, hexagonal and ornamented, with ‘strapwork’ and ‘openwork’. It now stands upon its sounding-board canopy in the vestry / organ space of 1841. It originally sat in front of the chancel arch on the south side where the Puritan iron hour-glass holder on the south wall was originally at the preacher's right hand, the hour glass being set by him at the start of his (long!) sermon.

The three windows in the south wall of the nave as far as the doors are similar to those of the chancel in style, but all contain 20th century memorials.

The first shows St Birinus (whose mission in 634 resulted in the baptism of the West Saxon king in the River Thame) and St Frideswide (at whose priory the diocese was seated in 1546) with the Oxford diocesan coat of arms above.

The second depicts St Celia, patron saint of music, and St George, with the Scout badge above. The third shows Mary, Martha's sister, and Phoebe, Paul's helper in Cenchrea, near Corinth.

The oak entrance doors were hung in memory of George Lawrence, Rector from 1923 to 1945; He was responsible for building the Parish Centre, Glebe Way, in 1937.

The tower contains three bells; the Treble and No. 2 bells are said to have been cast out of one, but there is no inscription on the Treble. The No. 2 bell is inscribed “Chandler Made Me 1705” and the Tenor bell is inscribed “Christina and Giselda 1947”  in memory of two children of the Hanbury-Sparrow family killed in World War II.  This replaced the former tenor bell cast by John Kebyll in 1460 which became cracked and is now in Amersham Museum; the Kebyll bell is inscribed in Latin “St Andrew Pray For Us” - was the church ever dedicated to St Andrew?

The pitch pine pews replaced old high box pews in the 1881 restoration and were added to in 1911. The colourful kneelers were woven by church members in the 1960's.

The Rectors of the church are listed on a board on the south wall beyond the entrance doors beginning in 1215. There is a gap in the list from 1418 to 1521 and during the Civil War a Mr Whitby (probably a Presbyterian or Independent minister imposed by Cromwell's officers) took the place of the rightful Rector, John Howe.

Five former Rectors are buried in the churchyard:

Thomas Clarke (1767-1793), Charles Blackman Q8431868),  Joseph Matthews (1868-1892),  Thomas Plupatrick (1906-1923) and George Lawrence (1923-1945).

Four others from the 17th century are apparently buried here, but no gravestones remain.

Robert Hearon,  Philip Edmunds,  Holland Brandreth  and John Howe.

Another Rector, the Hon Lowther Barrington (1830-1839) was a nephew of the Duke of Bedford who built a new Rectory in North Road in 1833, the design based on the Dukes home in Bedfordshire; that building was sold and the existing Rectory built on the glebe field in 1983.

The two windows in the south wall towards the back of the church, were filled in 1949 with figures of the four Evangelists, their emblems and the diocesan and county coats of arms.

The window at the back of the north aisle depicts St Leonard and St Hugh of Lincoln with the Lincoln coat of arms. Chesham Bois was in the diocese of Lincoln until its transfer to the diocese of Oxford in 1845. The quatrefoils of the windows in the north wall, show the implements of the Crucifixion.

The west window, designed like the east window by Martin Travers, depicts Our Lord's appearances after His Resurrection, and was given in 1947. Of three cinque-foil lights under a four-centred head, it now contains very little of its original 15th century tracery. Either side of the window are panels,

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TO BE CONTINUED ….