Visitors to the church will find a short guide and sign boards describing the main points of interest.
A new edition of ‘The History of Leckhampton Church’, extensively revised, and including new material and many fresh illustrations, is now available, price £2.00.
It is on sale at the church, or copies may be obtained by post from the Parish Office or the author, Eric Miller, (churchhistory@stpeters-leckhampton.org.uk), price £3.00, to include UK postage. (Cheques should be made payable to ‘St Peter’s Leckhampton PCC’.) For overseas orders, please enquire.
History of Leckhampton Church
Introduction
Contents
Back cover
Review
Review of the book, taken (with permission) from the August 2007 issue of The Local Historian, the journal of the British Association for Local History.
St. Peter’s Church, Leckhampton, has a lovely site on the lower slopes of the steep Cotswold scarp about two miles south of Cheltenham. The parish is large but the church is isolated in a rural setting, overlooked by the former manor house and with no modern encroachments in sight. Not surprisingly, many people from outside the parish choose this as their last resting place. The churchyard has been extended to over three acres, dominated by the slender ‘broach’ spire. This church guide is very different from the usual booklet, for Eric Miller has been a member of the congregation for forty years, and has researched and compiled this book with love and affection touching on every aspect that the parishioner or visitor would want to know. Norman foundations seen below floorboards at the foot of a Norman carved half-column indicate the origins of the church. In the fourteenth century the lord of the manor, Sir John Giffard, added the south aisle, and the tower with spire between the nave and new chancel. He and his lady have a splendid carved tomb at the back of the church. In 1865-1866, when the population of Cheltenham was increasing, the church was enlarged by extending the nave and building the north aisle, giving it the Victorian aspect it has today—yet this is not the elaborate Victorian style, but one which is cool, functional and comfortable, with no embellishments. The pews are kept but the church appears modern. Some dormer windows and a free-standing altar in the nave are the only recent alterations.
It seems child-friendly, and children are depicted in many of the high quality stained glass windows which Miller catalogues. The bells have two pages and an appendix. Monuments and the organ are described in detail. When submitting this book for review the author included his previous edition from 1987, commenting ‘how technology has improved’. It had 65 pages, and though the text is largely unchanged there are now more photos, some of them replacing drawings. The plans and drawings made in 1864 by the architect John Middleton, and now in Gloucestershire Archives, have been consulted. Above all, the author has done the typesetting and layout himself. On New Year’s Eve 2006 the visitor’s book had an entry by a Yorkshire lady stating that her daughter wanted to be married in St. Peter’s. The lady had bought this guide, and it will be a memento for the family to cherish—other visitors will also wish to keep this excellent church history.
For other publications by Eric Miller, see www.llhs.org.uk.