Church Of St Helen

The Church of St Helen is a Roman Catholic church dated 1869-71, likely designed by S. J. Nicholl. Constructed of ashlar with ashlar dressings, it features a tiled roof with decorated ridges and a stone-coped east end, including three ridge crosses, one atop the porch. The building is buttressed and sits on a plinth with a chamfered ashlar course. It comprises a nave, a south porch, a north chapel/organ chamber, and a chancel, with a decorative ashlar bell turret in the northeast corner.

The west end has a single four-light arched window with tracery, cusping, and a hood mould, and a string course runs beneath. The north wall contains three two-light arched windows with tracery, cusping, hood mould, and label stops. The chapel’s north wall has an arched doorway, flanked to its left by two two-light windows. These windows have cusping, a single stone mullion under a flat head, a string course, and a narrow rectangular opening below. The east wall of the chapel has a single round window with tracery, cusping, a hood mould, label stops, a string course, and a narrow rectangular opening below. The chancel’s east wall has a single five-light arched window with tracery, cusping, and a hood mould, with a string course running underneath. The south wall has five arched two-light windows, each with tracery, cusping, and a hood mould. The buttressed porch has a moulded arch supported on engaged columns with a hood mould and label stops. Both the east and west walls feature single two-light traceried windows.

Inside the porch, a piscina is supported on a foliate corbel, with an arch above. The inner moulded, arched doorway also has a hood mould with label stops. The nave and north chapel are separated by a single moulded arch supported on foliate decorated capitals. The moulded chancel arch is supported on two foliate decorated capitals and has a hood mould with label stops. A two-bay chancel/north chapel arcade with moulded arches is supported on columns with foliate decorated capitals and includes 19th-century screens. The organ chamber is separated from the north chapel by single half arches that terminate in a boss at the apex. The north chapel’s north wall has two arched doorways with a hood mould band and label stops above. Between the doors, a niche with a triangular arch is supported on two corbels. The south chancel wall has a piscina with an arch above. Flanking the east window are single cusped niches. A painted panel with blind trefoils and a hood mould with a finial is on the north chancel wall. The chancel roof is supported on foliate decorated corbels. Furnishings include items from the 19th and 20th centuries.