Church Of St Helen

BERRICK SALOME SU6294 7/3 Church of St. Helen 18/07/63

GV II*

Church. C11, C13, C14, remodelled C17, restored 1890 by A.M. Mowbray. Rendered rubble with limestone and brick dressings, some timber framing and tile hanging; old plain-tile roofs. Nave, chancel, south transept, west tower, and south porch. C14 chancel has 3-light east window, with intersecting tracery, and single-light ogee-headed side windows. C13 transept has lancet to east, and a 3-light south window with C17 chamfered-brick arched heads. South wall of nave has a C17 timber-framed porch (restored C19) sheltering a simple early-Romanesque doorway; to right is a tiny C11 window and, to left, a C17 window of 2 lights with chamfered-brick dressings. Above is a C19 dormer with gable on carved brackets. North wall of nave is largely obscured by a large vestry of 1890, but has a 3-light brick-mullioned window, with brick label, plus a 3-light dormer. Timber-framed tower is clad in C19 ornamental tile hanging and shingles, with arched framing at ground floor plus arched wooden belfry openings below a pyramid roof. Interior: chancel has a C14 ogee-headed piscina, with shelf, and a 7-canted roof with C19 panelling. Nave has a 4-bay roof, dated 1615, with upper and lower windbraces, 2 rows of ogee-moulded butt purlins, and elaborate double-collar trusses with queen struts, from which spring arched braces to a central pendant, plus curved upper struts. End trusses have tiebeans carrying rectangular framing with elaborate curved bracing. 2 intermediate trusses have inserted C19 tie beams with added queen struts and bracing. 2-bay transept roof has arched windbraces and an arch-braced collar truss, with added C19 tie beam, and is probably C15. Fittings include western gallery, with heavy turned balusters, dated 1676, and C17 oak panelled pews. Romanesque font has pattern of linked circles. Small area of medieval floor tiles. Interior of tower not inspected but probably C14/C15 framing. (Buildings of England: Oxfordshire, p.452).

Listing NGR: SU6237694277