Flamstead Heritage home page - Flamstead Heritage

National Lottery supported us

Thanks to National Lottery players and the generosity of local people, funds, and trusts, we have been able to save St Leonard’s Church and share its heritage.

We have now completed a fascinating programme of community activities and created a range of informative, multi-media materials for use in the church and village.

All the materials are available on this website.

More about us

At the centre of the community for 800 years

St Leonard’s has been at the centre of the Flamstead community for over 800 years.

It was built in stages during the mediaeval period, not always with best practice.

As a “poor agricultural parish” in past few centuries, there were never enough funds to maintain it.

St Leonard’s was threatened with closure

But by the 2010s, rot and death watch beetle had attacked the nave roof timbers,
with a serious risk of collapse.

Time, weather and unsuitable repairs had badly damaged the stonework.

The nave roof has now been repaired ...

… and other essential works carried out. The building is now leak and damp proof.

The wall paintings, dating from the 13th century, have dried out.

A new hi-tech boiler is maintaining a steady temperature and humidity to conserve them.

Heritage is being shared

In 2024, we completed an exciting programme of community activities,
events and displays, with something for everyone.

A range of informative, multi-media interpretation materials has been created
to share the heritage as widely as possible.

St Leonard’s is a fascinating place to visit

Supported by these interpretation materials, visitors can find out about the building history,
follow trails, and see nationally important wall paintings and mediaeval graffiti.

There are discovery activities to engage children and amazing wildlife sculptures in the churchyard.

EXPLORE St Leonard’s

Use the INTERACTIVE GUIDE to identify WHAT TO SEE during your VISIT

historic architecture • important wall paintings • mediaeval graffiti • little treasures

EXPLORE (new tab)

photo of leaflets on table in front of information panels

FIND OUT more

LEARN (more) about church & village: the CORE materials including those displayed on-site, and with lists of key resources

panels • leaflets • guidebook • children’s

Find out more

NEW materials

ACCESS the full set of IN-DEPTH materials CREATED by or for Flamstead Heritage

reports • videos • recordings • resources

View new materials

ARCHIVE materials

RESEARCH local history though DIGITISED materials curated from the ARCHIVES

historic records • photos • documents

View the archives

Welcome to Flamstead Heritage

photo of information panel outside a church

plan a VISIT

View visitor information to help PREPARE for a visit to Flamstead and St Leonard’s.

what to see • travel • local amenities

Learn more

News & Blog Posts

The website has now had a comprehensive make-over. It now fits in with Flamstead Heritage's house style as used in our print materials, posters etc. The site has also been re-organised to bring it into line with its post-project new life. The record of the...

Parish Register transcripts 1548-1781 posted in Archives

Dec 22, 2024 | Blog, new material, website

Scans of the transcripts of the St Leonard’s Parish Registers from 1548 to c. 1781 have now been posted in the Archives section of the website. St Leonard’s has a very good collection of parish registers, dating from 1548. The originals are now stored at HALS....

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