Church Of St Helen

Church of St Helen

This is a parish church dating from the 14th century with 16th-century additions, substantially restored between 1874 and 1876 by the architect G F Bodley. The building is constructed of coursed limestone rubble with ashlar dressings and is roofed with graded Swithland slate.

The church comprises a west tower with broach spire, a nave, a south aisle, a south porch, and a chancel. A double moulded plinth runs around the building. The west tower is in three stages with chamfered stringcourses. Its west elevation features a pointed arch two-light window with cusped lights, a hoodmould and head stops. In the third stage is a similar louvred bell-opening without a hoodmould. The spire rises above with a two-light lucarne and above that a single light lucarne, both with crocketed gables. The spire is topped with a cross finial. A crocketed finial with an empty niche sits on the east gable of the nave. The north, south and east elevations are similar to the west elevation but without the lower window. A clerestory with two 19th-century circular windows appears only on the south side.

The north aisle has a 16th-century doorway with a four-centred arch and chamfered jambs, fitted with a 12-panel door. To its right is a two-light pointed arch window, and to its left a three-light pointed arch window, both with hoodmoulds and dating to the 16th century or later. An angle buttress with set-offs stands to the far left.

The south aisle contains, to the left of the porch, a two-light window with a flat head and hoodmould, with a buttress beyond it. To the right of the porch is a similar window, also with a buttress beyond. The south porch is a 19th-century addition with a gabled roof, coping and cross finial. It has two buttresses with set-offs flanking a pointed arch doorway with double roll-moulded jambs and a hoodmould. A further south doorway is similar, with a plank door.

The chancel was completely rebuilt in the 19th century. It has a coped gable with finial and a cill course. The north wall contains a central buttress with set-offs and, to its right, an ogee arch two-light window with flowing tracery and a hoodmould. The south wall has a central buttress with set-offs. To its left is a priest's doorway with a pointed arch, hoodmould and plank door, with a two-light ogee arch window similar to that on the north wall beyond it. To the right is a two-light pointed arch window of similar design. Diagonal buttresses occupy the north-east and south-east corners. The east window is a three-light pointed arch with flowing tracery and a hoodmould.

Internally, the nave has a three-bay arcade on its south side with double-chamfered pointed arches and plain piers. Both the tower arch and the chancel arch are double-chamfered with polygonal engaged columns featuring capitals and bases; the tower arch includes a hoodmould and headstops. A crudely shaped niche appears on the eastern respond. The south aisle contains a 14th-century ogee arch piscina in its south wall. The chancel has a blocked pointed arch doorway now occupied by a 19th-century organ. Flanking the east window are single ogee arch niches with cusped heads and hoodmoulds, each containing a figure of an angel on a pedestal. Sedilia sit below the south-east window. All roofs are 19th-century work. The screen is reputedly by Bodley, whilst the pews, choir stalls and pulpit are all 19th-century. The font is a 19th-century bowl and stem design with an ogee-shaped wooden cover.

The church contains numerous monuments. On the north wall of the nave are three 20th-century plaques to the Murray-Smith family. Above the north door is the royal coat of arms in a square moulded frame. On the west wall of the south aisle is an 18th-century oval marble cartouche with a flaming urn at the top and an ornate border of palm leaves and winged cherubs' heads with tassels, inscribed to the memory of John Horton (died 1701) and his wife Barbara (died 1705). Above the arcade on the south side is an 18th-century black and white marble cartouche with winged cherubs' heads supporting a shield at the top and bunched drapes at the base, inscribed to the memory of Andrew Horton Gent and Elizabeth his wife (both died 1721). To its left is an oval slate tablet with a white marble shield inscribed to the memory of Richard Wynne, Rector (died 1788). On the south wall is a 20th-century marble and mosaic plaque to one of the Murray-Smith family, and on the west wall is a small brass First World War memorial plaque. The chancel has a 20th-century memorial plaque on its south wall and a late 19th-century plaque beneath its north-east window.

The stained glass includes late 19th-century work in the west window, south aisle and chancel windows, with early 20th-century glass in the north windows of the nave.