Church Of St Helen

CHURCH OF ST HELEN

Parish church, principally of the 1460s, with a 19th-century porch and roofs; 20th-century restorations, most recently in 1984–5.

The church comprises a west tower, a four-bay aisled nave with south porch, and a three-bay chancel. The fabric is constructed from random and roughly-coursed cobbles with limestone ashlar dressings; the nave has a sandstone ashlar parapet. The porch is red brick with a pantile roof, and the remainder has lead roofs.

The two-stage tower has a moulded plinth, diagonal buttresses with offsets, and quoins to the top section. The tall first stage contains a four-centred-arched three-light west window with Perpendicular tracery and hoodmould, stair lighting slits to the south-west angle, and a moulded string course. The belfry stage has four-centred-arched two-light trefoiled openings with incised spandrels. Above runs a moulded string course and a coped embattled parapet with truncated pinnacle shafts.

The aisles and chancel have buttresses with ashlar quoins and offsets. The aisles and clerestory contain square-headed two- and three-light cinquefoiled windows with incised spandrels. The south aisle has a plain square-headed west window; the north aisle has a pointed chamfered arch with a plain board door containing an ogee-headed wicket.

The chancel has diagonal and mid buttresses, a Tudor-arched chamfered door, and square-headed two- and three-light windows to the south side matching those of the aisles. The north side has a segmental-headed two-light window and a blocked opening. The east window is four-centred arched with three lights and cinquefoil tracery. A moulded string course runs throughout, with a single carved head spout to the south aisle. The aisles and chancel retain their original coped parapets; the nave parapet is plain and restored. The porch has a round-headed outer arch with raised brick imposts and a brick-coped gable; the inner arch is pointed and moulded with a hoodmould, and a plain board door with round-headed wicket.

The interior features arcades of pointed double-chamfered arches on octagonal piers with moulded capitals and bases. The responds have finely-carved corbels supporting short octagonal wall shafts: these are carved with angels holding shields to the east responds and a lion's head and squatting woman to the west. A tall pointed double-chamfered tower arch springs from octagonal responds with moulded capitals and bases. The chancel arch is pointed and double-chamfered, dying into octagonal responds with plain moulded bases.

The chancel contains a plain triple sedilia with chamfered ogee arches and a small square aumbry. The 19th-century roofs include a chancel roof with moulded beams and carved bosses; a pair of original carved head and foliate roof bosses hangs on the chancel arch.

The chancel monuments include a 15th-century floor slab with black-letter border inscription and a pair of 18th-century floor slabs to the Holme family. A wall monument to John and Dinah Holme, dated c1749, has a marble tablet in a scrolled ashlar surround supporting an entablature with a winged cherub's head and a dentilled open pediment with flaming lamps and arms in a cartouche. Three standing marble wall monuments commemorate Reverend John Holme (1775), Henry Holme (1778), and Margaret Reaston (1781); the last and possibly others are by Rushworth of Beverley. All three have tablets surmounted by urns and obelisk bases; the later pair also carry carved arms and palm fronds. A marble tablet now not in situ in the nave commemorates Edward and Elizabeth Bee (1762).

A 15th-century octagonal font has a plain moulded bowl and column with broach stops. The nave contains a pair of 18th-century fielded-panel box-pews at its west end; the remainder of the fittings are 19th-century. The arcades closely resemble those at the contemporary Church of St Nicholas, Withernsea.