St.Leonard, Bengeo
Profits from a prophet.
This must be the smallest church in Hertfordshire and one of the least altered Norman churches in the country, having been virtually derelict for long periods of time. The village has all but been swallowed by Hertford, though the area around the church still feels like a place apart, with the river Rib and common land to the south, and a beautifully designed little garden to the north. Built in around 1120 with only a nave and apsed chancel, the sole additions were a small porch, rebuilt in brick in the Georgian period, and a timber bellcot. This latter was built as part of the roof structure in the fifteenth century, the external cladding redesigned in the Victorian restoration of 1885 with a picturesque spirelet. There are original doorways on both sides of the nave, with two mass dials[10] on the jambs on the south. Most of the windows have been enlarged during the middle ages, but one original remains on the north side of the apse, blocked by a monument inside, and the chancel arch is still that built by the Normans. Only the capitals here show carved work of the period, with simple volutes on one side and an unusual face profiled on the other
Profits from a prophet.
This must be the smallest church in Hertfordshire and one of the least altered Norman churches in the country, having been virtually derelict for long periods of time. The village has all but been swallowed by Hertford, though the area around the church still feels like a place apart, with the river Rib and common land to the south, and a beautifully designed little garden to the north. Built in around 1120 with only a nave and apsed chancel, the sole additions were a small porch, rebuilt in brick in the Georgian period, and a timber bellcot. This latter was built as part of the roof structure in the fifteenth century, the external cladding redesigned in the Victorian restoration of 1885 with a picturesque spirelet. There are original doorways on both sides of the nave, with two mass dials[10] on the jambs on the south. Most of the windows have been enlarged during the middle ages, but one original remains on the north side of the apse, blocked by a monument inside, and the chancel arch is still that built by the Normans. Only the capitals here show carved work of the period, with simple volutes on one side and an unusual face profiled on the other
 Early Norman apse at the east end of the church.
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 Norman chancel arch.
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 Mass dial on the south doorway.
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. From an early date the entire interior was painted with masonry lines in red, later changed to diamond patterns in the chancel. Much of this paintwork has survived, and traces of figure painting in the wide splays of the Norman windows. In the nave is a very early mural from the thirteenth century, showing a naive Deposition from the cross, with Mary and John looking up at Joseph of Arimathea holding the body of Christ whilst Nicodemus with pincers withdraws the nails.
 C13th wall painting of the deposition of Christ from the cross
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 Humphrey Hall unveiled by cherubs, 1742
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There are some good fourteenth century tiles under the altar, and behind the chancel wall panelling evidence remains of a squint to an anchorite’s cell outside. This late mediaeval religious fashion saw self professed mystics immured voluntarily next to a church. They would be fed by the parish in return for giving visionary advice; a prickly problem for the parish priest having an alternative authority on his doorstep. Maybe the offerings of the faithful made it all worthwhile. There are three memorials within the church, all designed by well respected men. William Stanton was responsible for the 1665 tablet of John Ryde, originally erected in St.Leonard’s Shoreditch. A baroque medallion unveiled by thuggish marble cherubs forms the 1742 monument by Thomas Adey to Humphrey Hall, and the metropolitan Joseph Nollekens cut the neo-classical tablet for Daniel Minet in 1790. Several hatchments hang on the walls, one with unusual redcoat soldiers as supporters, and a rumbustious royal arms of George I dated 1719. Arms of such an early date always boast well-hung lion and unicorn supporters, their virility becomes less obvious as the century goes on. On the west wall are the painted figures from the Georgian reredos, the traditional forms of Moses and Aaron. The robed Moses always holds the tablets of the law, and often exhibits the two horns of light that resulted from a misreading of the Hebrew, whilst Aaron wears the jewelled breastplate and ornate attire of a Jewish high priest. There are no pews and few furnishings at all, though some remarkably well designed cupboards have recently been added at the west end, solid and slightly gothic, with crenellated detail. Hopefully the same care will be taken with the rest of the furnishing; for the present the interior is wonderfully light and spacious.
 Figure of Moses from the C18th reredos.
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 Early C18th royal arms of George I
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 Figure of Aaron from the C18th reredos.
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The church is opened 2.30-5.00 on summer weekends, and seems well looked after now. I’d check first before a long trip, 01920 468166 for tours, or 10992 413691 for the rectory. The church is on St.Leonard’s Road in Bengeo, now in the north east of Hertford.
[10] Mass dials were sun dials marked with the times of services rather than hours.
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