St Leonards, Kirkstead

One day I got a message from a priest like "do you wanna come and visit this church?" There was one odd thing about it though, he sent me the church name, and the post code - and that was it. No street name, no village, no... Nothing.

The church was in the middle of nowhere. The track that led up to it was unpaved. The road it was on was unnamed. And, unusually for a village church, its village was nowhere to be seen, located over a mile away, across empty fields...

Because of the unpaved track, I abandoned my car half a kilometre or so from the church, met the priest, and walked from there.

The priest and I walked up this old track through the fields, plants looming well over head height either side, until suddenly the crops turned into trees, and there, in the middle of nowhere, was a churchyard.

In the middle of fields, stands the gorgeous St Leonard's Church, built somewhen in the early 1200's, and still without electricity or running water.

Aside from the magical location, the first thing you notice is this door! Look at how fabulous it is!

The quality of construction of the church and all of the carved detailing throughout is extremely (and unusually) high, and some think it may have been built as a chantry chapel for Robert de Tattershall.

Why would a small one-room chapel of Cathedral-quality construction be built in the middle of nowhere? Well, back when St Leonard's was built this enormous chunk of stone a little way down the track, was a Cistercian monastery, and St Leonard's was sited just outside the walls.

But I know you all want to see inside the Church, so let's have a peek...

Inside the church is a single room - please excuse the dust, even without a plague the church is only opened for a single service a month - and until my visit today nobody had been inside for over half a year.

Over beside the altar is (most of) an effigy of a knight. Believed to be one of the earliest military effigies in England, there's only three others still in existence in England with this style of chain mail, and only seven with this helmet style.

The wooden rood screen that spans the church is unique. The top and bottom sections, in darker wood, date from the 1900's - but the arcading, carved from lighter duller wood, is original to the church, and dates from the 1200's - it's one of the oldest examples in existence.

Just LOOK at that 800 year old wood. Just hanging out, doing the job it was carved for all those centuries ago.

The ribbed vaulting, curving upwards, is spectacular, and over the altar the ribs converge on a gorgeous roof boss depicting the Lamb of God.

For a seemingly simple church, there's beautifully carved detailing everywhere you look (and some fragments of medieval wall painting).

The church itself is beautifully atmospheric, and has such a sense of love about it. The priest told me that once a year they do an evening carol service out there, in this church in the middle of the fields, and because there's no electricity it's all lit by candle light.

As we were turning to leave, I spotted a little door in the corner, and behind the door was a staircase...

At the top of the staircase is the underside of the slightly bizarre modern roof, which is perched awkwardly on top of the medieval church, with gaps all along the edge, as if it's too scared to touch the stone.

More importantly, you can also see the top of the vaulted ceiling!

Heading back outside, I stopped to admire the door - the wood of the door is new(ish) but the hinges are the original ironwork from the 1200's.

I spent some time wandering around this churchyard in the middle of nowhere, surrounded on all sides by towering crops, and trees, and silence. It's honestly one of the most magical places I've ever been.

The church is just utterly wonderful, and you can support her here