St Leonard
Bridgnorth, Shropshire
A vast church with an explosive history.
Originally a Saxon minster, it later became a cell of Shrewsbury Abbey, with a prior in residence until 1540.
Records show that a new parish church had been dedicated in 1118, and some features of that church remain, including the chancel arch, the south door and perhaps the richly carved Norman font.
The bells of the church, and its monastic past, were the inspiration for Katherine Swift's popular book The Morville Hours. Published in 2008, it is about the garden the author created at the Dower House at Morville Hall.
