Church Of St Helen

Church of St Helen

This parish church on St Helen's Square in York was substantially reconstructed in 1857 on the site of earlier foundations, incorporating a 14th-century south arcade and a 16th-century north arcade. The reconstruction was undertaken by W H Dykes, followed by restoration and tower rebuilding in 1875 by W Atkinson. The church is built in magnesian limestone with a triple-span slate roof, stone-coped at the east end.

The building comprises a four-bay aisled nave, a continuous chancel with a south vestry, and a west end lantern tower. The gabled east end features a four-light chancel window in a four-centred head beneath a hoodmould, with quatrefoil tracery, and a three-light window with similar tracery in a two-centred head serving the south aisle. The south side, articulated by gabled offset buttresses on a chamfered plinth, contains three three-light windows with traceried heads in stilted four-centred arches and a chamfered sill band. An embattled parapet runs along the south elevation. The westernmost bay is blank and narrowed to a splayed corner bay.

The west end is dominated by a recessed west door and window beneath a tall two-centred double-chamfered arch springing from two-stage buttresses crowned by crocketed finials. The Tudor arched doorway beneath a flat hoodmould has carved spandrels, colonnette jambs, and double doors of traceried panelling. The west window comprises four cinquefoiled lights with panel tracery in a two-centred head. Windows to the aisles and splayed corner bay are of three ogee-arched lights beneath cusped tracery in two-centred heads with headstopped hoodmoulds. The parapet is embattled and traceried.

The octagonal lantern tower is buttressed at each angle and features tiered trefoil-headed lights beneath ogee-arched mouldings with an embattled pierced parapet. On the west face is a trefoil-headed niche beneath an ogee hoodmould, flanked by miniature crocketed finials.

Interior arcades feature double-chamfered two-centred arches on octagonal piers and responds. The north arcade's eastern arch is four-centred, and only the easternmost pier retains a capital—a hollow-chamfered 15th-century base reused from an earlier structure. A continuous hoodmould runs above on 19th-century stops, except for two early 16th-century stops flanking the eastern arch. One of these displays carved seated figures of God the Father and Christ receiving a soul, whilst the other shows St Michael and the Angels. The south arcade mirrors the north, though its inner order dies into the piers whilst the outer order springs from moulded corbels.

The principal fittings include a 12th-century bowl font with an arcaded underside beneath a border of palmette mouldings, supported on a 15th-century quatrefoil foot and a 13th-century inverted capital base. Two 18th-century Benefaction Boards are mounted in the north aisle, along with a Mayoral Board bearing the Royal Arms of George III, dated 1802.

The church was historically known as the Glaziers' church. Medieval stained glass was lost when the building was declared redundant and partly demolished in 1551. Fragments of medieval and later glass have been reassembled in the chancel south window, north aisle west window, and south aisle east and south-west windows.

Monuments include: in the north aisle, an early 19th-century marble wall tablet to Theophilus Davyes Garencieres and family by Taylor, a wall monument to John Stow (died 1775) and family, and a floor slab to William (died 1789) and Rachel Brooke. In the south aisle are a marble tablet with cornice to Ann Acaster (died 1834) by Flintoft, a marble tablet with draped urn to Thomas Hartley of Heslington (died 1808) by Taylor, a Gothick wall monument to James Atkinson (died 1839) and his widow Ann (died 1840) by T Hayes of Beverley, and an inscribed brass plate in a plain marble surround to Barbara and Elizabeth Davyes (1667–1765 and 1669–1767 respectively), erected by their nephew Theophilus Davyes Garencieres. Floor slabs commemorate Tobias Conyars, Canon of York (died 1686), and Elizabeth, wife of Richard Acklam (1722–3), the latter bearing shields of arms.