Former Parish Church of St Helen is a Grade II listed building in the Northumberland local planning authority area, England. First listed on 30 January 1986. Church. 1 related planning application.

Former Parish Church of St Helen

WRENN ID
plain-joist-thrush
Grade
II
Local Planning Authority
Northumberland
Constituency
Hexham MP: Joe Morris (Lab)
Country
England
Date first listed
30 January 1986
Type
Church
Address
Former Parish Church of St Helen, Longhorsley, NE65 8SY
OS grid reference
NZ 154 943
Coordinates
55.24323, -1.75879
Source
Historic England listing

Also on this page: related consents · flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

The former parish church of St. Helen is located in Longhorsley and was rebuilt in 1783 on a medieval site. The chancel was added in 1798, and the vestry was constructed in the early 19th century. The building is primarily made of ashlar stone, except for squared stone on the north side, and features a slate roof with stone gable copings. It is designed in a Gothick style and has a broad nave with a south porch, while the chancel has a vestry on the north side.

The church has a chamfered plinth and a west end that includes a 20-pane sash window with intersecting glazing bars beneath a pointed head, flanked by blind lancets and topped with a sunk quatrefoil. The embattled bellcote features twin pointed openings on the east and west sides, along with single blind pointed arches on the north and south. The south wall of the nave has a plain doorway at the west end under the porch, which has had its front wall removed to connect with the present parish church in 1982. There are three sash windows on the south wall, matching those on the west, as well as three similar windows on the north side of the nave, two on the south of the chancel, and one in the east end. A priest's door between the chancel windows has a blocked fanlight with intersecting ribs. The vestry has a square plinth and a 16-pane sash window.

Inside, the chancel arch is trefoiled and outlined by raised balls, with a panelled soffit and spandrels that feature a crude foliage design, possibly from the early 20th century. There is a panelled dado, but most fittings have been removed. The asymmetric layout of the nave suggests that the south and west nave walls, and possibly the chancel walls, are built on medieval foundations. The church was last used in 1966 and was derelict at the time of the survey.

Local climate

Former Parish Church of St Helen receives an average of 830 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 53% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 99% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 32 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 59% of listed buildings. Of these, 20 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.

Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.

More on this building

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  • No EPC on record for this property
  • No sale records on file
  • Related listed building consents — 1 application
  • Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
  • Flood risk assessment
  • Radon risk assessment
  • Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
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