St Leonard's Church, Old Warden

The early history of St Leonard’s is linked to that of Walter Espec. Born in about 1074, Espec was a member of the Espec family which had held the manor of Wardone since being granted it by William the Conqueror.  Walter, likely to have been born at the long-since-disappeared Wardone castle, was probably not the eldest son, so was obliged to make his career in the king’s service and he became a trusted military commander under Henry I. He married Adeline de Beauchamp, whose father, Hugh, held the barony of Bedford.  Walter found favour with Henry, fighting with the king on the Anglo-Scottish border, where he was granted lands, which he fortified by building castles at Wark and Helmsley.  Eventually, perhaps on the death of an older brother or cousin, he inherited Wardone, but did not maintain the castle or rebuild the early Norman timberwork.

Espec spent much of his life in the north and was known for his piety – not considered incompatible with a military life, although the evils of warfare needed to be recompensed by charitable acts.  Despite his own lands being in Northumberland he founded the Cistercian abbey of Warden, Befordshire ,in around 1133, as a daughter house of his other foundation of Rievaulx Abbey in Yorkshire, and granted to the monks the ‘advowson’ of St Leonard’s church. The advowson was (and is) the right to appoint the priest.  All that perhaps remains of the abbey is a remnant of what may have been the abbot’s lodgings, turned into a house by the Gostwick family after the abbey surrendered in 1537, and now restored by the Landmark Trust for use as holiday rental. The other reminder of its glory is the Warden pear, first cultivated by the monks of Warden Abbey.   

The history of St Leonard’s is much the same as for every parish church – it was built and renovated over the centuries, saw the births, marriages and deaths of the parishioners, underwent the dismantling of the accoutrements of the Catholic church, such as the Rood screen in the later sixteenth century, and was subject to vigorous renovation in the gothic style in the years 1840-1841 by Robert Henley-Ongle, 3rd Baron Warden.

Today, it is in desperate need of funds to maintain the tower and make urgent repairs to preserve the treasures inside, including the Anne of Cleves panels.  Donations can be made via the Church's Just Giving fundraising page.