Prisoners' friend and dragon-slaying saint

ST Leonard's Church in the centre of Seaford dates from around 1090 and was probably built of cruciform design with a central tower.

The first mention of a chaplain serving at the church was 'Peter' in 1160. He was known to have been present at the consecration of the chapel of St James' Leper Hospital to the north of the town.

Over the years the church was extended but its dedication was unknown. The church may have been originally dedicated to St Michael. In the 1770s a stone depiction of St Michael killing a dragon was found on the site of a ruined chapel adjacent to the church. This was probably burnt down during one of the many medieval raids by the French. The ancient stone figure is now attached to the north nave wall. In 1541, William Best left a will stating that he wished to be buried in the churchyard of 'St Leonard at Seaford'. This was the first mention of the current dedication to this saint.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

But who was St Leonard and why was our church given his name? I was certainly perplexed when I read that St Leonard was not only a Frenchman but also a patron saint of 'Sailors in Bondage'!

Five Sussex churches bear the name of St Leonard and three of these are in Cinque Ports (the others being at Hastings and Winchelsea)

Leonard was born in the year 466, the cousin of King Clovis of France. At the tender age of six he went to study with the Archbishop of Reims (later St Remigius.) When older, Leonard accompanied Clovis in the wars against the Germans and on his return he was offered a bishopric. He turned this down, however, preferring to live the humble life of a monk in a monastery.

Legend tells that when Clovis's wife, Queen Clotilde, was in childbirth, Leonard prayed at length for a safe delivery for the child. When a healthy daughter was born, the overjoyed King declared that Leonard should have as much land as he could ride around on a donkey in one day. On this land near Limoges, the good man founded an abbey where he based himself for the rest of his years.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Leonard had a remarkable charity towards prisoners for whom he provided help and prayer. Some were said to have been miraculously freed from their chains although it was more likely that they were released after Leonard petitioned the King for clemency. Many of the released prisoners were said to have changed from their wicked ways, converted to Christianity and lived with Leonard at his abbey.

Leonard lived to the grand old age of 99 and was buried at his abbey which became a shrine. Among the prisoners who invoked his prayers were Crusaders who were captured in the Middle East particularly after Prince Bohemond visited his shrine after he was released from a Muslim prison in 1103.

An unlikely local legend says that St Leonard visited Sussex where he fought a dragon near Horsham in a forest that now bears his name. It is said that the dragon wounded Leonard and where his blood fell on the floor of the forest lilies began to grow. If he had travelled to Sussex he may have even used the port of Seaford! Strangely, St Leonard's forest is the place where the last recorded dragon was spotted in England '“ in 1614.

Thanks to his early work for King Clovis, Leonard is also the patron saint of women in childbirth but in art he is usually shown carrying a ball and chain to symbolise his good work with prisoners. In our parish church, St Leonard is shown in stained glass on the south aisle of the church (just on the right as you enter). The window was designed more than 100 years ago by Charles Eamer Kempe who lived in Lindfield and was responsible for many Sussex church windows. He always added a wheatsheaf to his windows as a trademark and this can be seen in the window just to the left of the ball and chain that the saint is holding.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

And the sailors in bondage? They were the men who had been press-ganged into a life at sea, which explains why the church dedication is popular at ports. Press- ganged sailors would no doubt have had a brief but supervised opportunity to visit the local church when they came ashore. It may have been the visits of these men which caused the parish church in Seaford to be dedicated to St Leonard.

KEVIN GORDON

Related topics: