Monument To Thomas Helps East Of St Leonards Church

The monument to Thomas Helps, located east of St Leonard's Church, is a chest tomb dating from 1842. It is made of limestone and features a rectangular shape with square projections at each corner. The tomb has a moulded plinth and plain side panels set within moulded recesses. At the corners, there are acanthus-decorated console brackets that support the cover stone, which has pedimented sides and gablets at the corners, all adorned with anthemion and floral volutes. The inscriptions on the east and west panels commemorate Thomas Helps, who died in 1842, his wife Ann, who died in 1851, and three of their sons, the most notable being Sir Arthur Helps, who died in 1875. The monument is set on a slab that once had iron railings, which are now missing. Sir Arthur Helps served as clerk of the privy council from 1860 to 1875 and was involved in preparing several volumes of Queen Victoria's writings and an edition of Prince Albert's speeches, in addition to being an author himself.