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St. Leonard's Hill

St. Leonard's Hill is situated in the parish of Clewer, Windsor Forest. The house of the same name was originally called Gloucester Lodge, it having become the property of the Duke of Gloucester when he married the original proprietress, the Countess of Waldegrave. At that time (1876), the building was enlarged and much improved, and, together with seventy-five acres of land principally laid out in pleasure-grounds and lawns, is said to have been valued at £10,000. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, it was the property of General Harcourt, and at the end belonged to Mr. Barry. The name derives from the chapel of Saint Leonard of Losfield in Windsor Forest, in connection with which there is still extant a document, dating from the time of Edward III, in which a large portion of the forest was granted to John the Hermit. There were many beautiful features of Renaissance architecture in the building, which was finely situated and commanded a splendid view. The ground belonging to it would seem at one time to have been a Roman encampment; for, particularly in the early part of the eighteenth century, numerous antiquities have been brought to light in the course of building and other operations. Amongst these was a quaint old brazen lamp, unearthed from beneath a stone under which it had evidently been hidden, which was afterwards presented by Sir Henry Sloane to the Society of Antiquaries, and has since been chosen by them as their emblem. Numerous coins also, dating from the times of the Emperor Vespasian and the Lower Empire, have been dug up from time to time on St. Leonards Hill, and purchased by the same society. Spear-heads, arrows, pieces of trumpets, various coins and weapons, pots and fragments of ancient earthenware, and other souvenirs, have also been found.

Edited from Werner's "Beautiful Britain" (1894).

St. Leonard's Hill no longer stands. Only a few minor ruins remain.