More details may be found in the leaflet “A brief History of the church of St Leonard, Parish of Sherfield English” produced by Colin Bell, our Reader for many years, to whom these notes owe a debt of gratitude.

Church life in Sherfield has been the story of three buildings.

The first, like neighbouring St Margaret’s, was built in the 13th Century, not on the present site but on the Manor Farm. The churchyard is still there, some gravestones standing to this day. The building became unfit for use in the mid 19th Century, and the Nave was pulled down in 1859 and the Chancel in 1907. There’s a watercolour of that first church in the Vestry.

It was decided not to rebuild on that site, but to choose one on the main East/West road from Romsey to Salisbury, now the A27. One of my delights is the visibility of the chosen site from different angles in the parish; from so many perspectives, there’s the church!
The first attempt was not a great success. The Revd. Hon. F. Baring built a brick church on the present site in 1859, but by 1902 it was being described in The Romsey Chronicle as a “small and dilapidated brick building.” Judge for yourselves from the picture in the vestry. Interestingly, the tower on the first building appears to have been at the West End.

It was pulled down in 1902, and Lady Louisa Caroline Ashburton of Melchet Court provided the money to build the present church as a memorial to her daughter Mary Florence, Marchioness of Northampton, who had died in 1902.

In the autumn of 1902, Lady Ashburton engaged Mr. Fred Bath of Salisbury as her architect on the project, and Mr. George Olden gave part of the land for the site.

Mr. Bath’s design was for a red brick, stone dressed church in the 15th Century style, with a tower to house a full peal of eight bells. Materials were local - with bricks from Simeon’s brickyard at Dunwood Manor and Cowesfield Kilns. Hampshire builders were used - mainly Roles of Romsey, and then also Jenkins of Bournemouth.

The building was completed in 1904, and on the 6th September 1904 the Dedication took place with the Bishop of Winchester, the Rt. Revd. H.E. Ryle.

The stained glass is a particular feature of this church, and the West Window depicts Lady Ashburton giving the church building to God, and in the opposite panel is her daughter. Sadly Lady Ashburton died in 1903 before the building had been completed.

The most recent addition to the building (2006) is the accessible cloakroom and toilet at the North East corner of the church. Visitors often admire the way in which modern craftsmen have captured the architectural spirit of the original building in a new feature.