Church Of St Helen

Church of St Helen

This medieval hospital and parish church, founded in 1249 by Bishop Walter de Suffield as part of the Great Hospital, dates from the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries with substantial alterations from the 16th century onwards. The building is constructed of flint and brick rubble with stone dressings and a slate roof that replaced lead roofs stripped in 1809–10. It features three red brick chimneys.

The church comprises an aisled infirmary hall, nave, chancel, south transept, south porch, and south-west tower with various later additions including a first floor in the chancel and infirmary hall, and stair towers on the south side.

The South Porch is the only surviving element of the 13th-century building. It consists of three bays with no vault, and its upper floor was repaired in 1754.

The Chancel was rebuilt by Bishop Despenser around 1380. The north side retains four three-light and one two-light early Perpendicular windows. The south side windows were replaced during the 18th century with smaller windows featuring wooden intersecting tracery. The east window of seven lights is partly blocked by a 16th-century inserted chimney stack and is flanked by diagonal buttresses. The interior contains a 16th-century inserted floor on massive reused moulded beams. The ground floor Pump Ward preserves a north range of cubicles, with those on the south side removed. A stair cut through the south wall and partly contained within an adjacent extension has a moulded handrail with acorn finials to newel posts. The Eagle Ward on the first floor retains its original ribbed chancel waggon roof with bosses and 252 painted spread eagles, a full set of panelled cubicles with fluted pilasters, and fireplaces at the east and west ends.

The Church proper comprises a nave and aisles of three bays and a south transept, all rebuilt around 1480 by Bishop Goldwell. The north aisle has three flat-headed three-light windows, another with a two-centred head, and a three-light east window. Three three-light clerestory windows light the nave. A four-light window in the south transept is flanked by diagonal buttresses. The interior features quatrefoil piers, a blocked chancel arch, and a small 15th-century window in the west wall of the south aisle. The roofing includes arch-braced timbers on corbels and a lierne vault in the south transept. The furnishings comprise poppyhead bench ends, box pews, a raised pulpit at the east end, and an Ivory family pew in the south transept dated 1780 and inscribed with the names of William Ivory, son of the famous architect, and his wife.

The Infirmary Hall dates from the late 14th century and originally had four bays; its south aisle has been demolished. A three-light window with a two-centred head lights the west end of the north aisle. A 16th-century stair tower on the south side has an 18th-century three-light window with intersecting tracery. Similar smaller clerestory windows are present. The blocked west window retains 16th-century brickwork with four-tier moulded wooden mullioned and transomed windows with leaded lights and some later repairs. The interior contains an inserted floor with 19th-century cubicles in Parker Ward on the ground floor and Fawcett Ward on the first floor, reached by stairs with moulded handrails and acorn finials to newel posts. The arch-braced roof is original, and a large fireplace at the east end is concealed by tongue-and-groove boarding.

The South-West Tower was funded by a legacy for construction dating to 1375. It rises through four stages with diagonal buttresses, a two-centred window, string course, two-light traceried belfry windows, a brick parapet, and a weather vane.

After 16th-century alterations, the hospital accommodated men in the west wards and women in the former chancel.