Church Of St Helen

Parish church. The building comprises a 13th-century tower and chapel, with a nave and chancel added in 1750. A north aisle and vestry were added in 1939. The structure is built of coursed squared sandstone with ashlar dressings. The chancel has a red plain tile roof with stone coped gables on plain kneelers, while lead roofs are used elsewhere.

The plan consists of a 3-bay nave with north aisle, a 2-bay chancel with north vestry, and a south chapel/organ bay with a two-stage tower attached to the south. A plinth runs around the building.

The west elevation was rebuilt in 1939 with two shallow gabled bays. The southern bay features an advanced shallow gabled stone porch with clasping buttresses and a segmental headed doorcase, topped with a raised cross above in the gable. The northern bay has an advanced canted bay with an adjoining pair of semi-circular headed windows to the front and moulded stone copings to the flush parapets. The north aisle contains three similar pairs of semi-circular headed windows below flush parapets with moulded copings. To the east, the vestry has two plain doorcases and a 2-light chamfered mullion window. The east end of the vestry has two shallow 3-light chamfered mullion windows below and one large similar window above.

The 18th-century chancel has a gabled east wall, partly rebuilt in the 20th century, with raised quoins and a central semi-circular headed window with raised imposts and sill. The south chancel wall features a four-centred arched door with raised quoined jambs to the east and a projecting 13th-century bay to the west, which has a 19th-century 3-light chamfered mullion window facing east, with the tower beyond to the south.

The tower has stepped diagonal buttresses to the first stage on the southern corners and a 14th-century 2-light Decorated tracery led pointed window with hoodmould to the east and a small slit window to the south. The upper stage was rebuilt in 1897 with single-light shallow pointed louvred bell openings to each side and flush parapets with moulded copings.

The organ bay's west elevation displays a 13th-century chamfered lancet. The south elevation of the nave has three semi-circular headed chamfered 18th-century windows.

Internally, the nave features a segmental headed doorcase with a three-bay north arcade of semi-circular headed arches on columns with stepped square capitals. A full-width segmental arch connects the nave to the chancel. A pointed arch leads from the chancel into the south chapel/organ bay, and a small moulded pointed doorcase connects the chapel to the tower. A small segmental headed doorcase leads from the chancel into the north vestry.

The southern bay, known as the Brookhill aisle, contains a large organ and three wall monuments. One monument, dating to around 1780 and commemorating Robert and Sarah Lillyman, is signed 'AB Fecit' and features a segmental pediment topped with a coat of arms, cherubs to the base, and scrolled sides. The other two monuments date to around 1870 and 1890, featuring enamelled brass in moulded stone surrounds, with the later one in 18th-century style.

The chancel contains three large slate and white marble wall monuments to the Coke family. Two monuments on the south side, dating to 1759, 1801, and 1811, have painted coats of arms to the top. Various other early 20th-century plaques are distributed throughout the rest of the church.

An octagonal font with a moulded stem and painted panels to each side of the bowl stands at the west end of the north aisle. All other fittings date to the 20th century. The nave and chancel roofs contain some re-used 18th-century timbers. Mid-19th-century and early 20th-century stained glass is present in some windows.