Church Of St Helen

The Church of St Helen is a parish church located in Plungar, with a 14th-century tower and the remainder built in the 15th century. It features a west tower, nave, south aisle with chapel, and chancel. The aisle was rebuilt and the chapel added between 1855 and 1856. The church is constructed from ironstone with limestone dressings and has lead roofs.

The three-stage tower lacks buttresses and has an arched west lancet with generous mouldings on the jambs. The storeys are separated by string courses, and the plain ringing chamber stage leads to a belfry that contains two-light cusped and ogeed windows. The tower is topped with a crenellated parapet. A central gabled porch provides access to the aisle and is flanked by a three-light Perpendicular window on each side, both under triangular heads. To the east of the aisle, a stepped buttress separates the chapel, which also has a similar window. The short chancel is lit by a two-light window on the south and a three-light Perpendicular window on the east. There is a gabled vestry attached to the north wall of the chancel.

Inside, the church features a three-bay south arcade supported by cruciform piers with polygonal bases and capitals. The arches are double chamfered, while the tower arch is triple chamfered, with the inner order hollow and decorated with fleurons, ballflower, and a ballflower being consumed in a dragon's mouth. One ballflower contains a face, along with other grotesques and a lizard, all of good quality. The nave roof consists of tie beams on arched braces, resting on wall posts that are supported by angel corbels. The moulded ridge piece and one pair of moulded purlins enhance the roof's design. In the chancel, there are four fine bench ends dating from around 1500, featuring two tiers of arcading, geometric tracery, and poppyheads.