Church Of St Helena

Church of St Helena

This is a parish church at Helland, predominantly dating from the 14th century with significant later additions and alterations. The church consists of a nave and chancel in one, a north transept, a south aisle, a west tower, and a south porch.

The original 14th-century structure comprised the nave, chancel, north transept, and west tower. A south aisle was added in the late 15th century, along with a south porch to the south side of the nave. Around 1820, under Reverend F. Hext, the north transept was substantially rebuilt as a schoolroom, and the nave, chancel, and south aisle were re-roofed. The west tower was substantially rebuilt in the 19th century. Major restoration and rebuilding took place in the late 19th century, said to be by J. P. St Aubyn, with the Incorporated Society for Buildings and Churches recording work dated 1878.

The building is constructed of slatestone rubble with granite dressings. The roof is of slate with crested ridge tiles; the north transept has a scantle slate roof with lead roll to the ridge. The east ends of the chancel and aisle and the north gable end of the transept all have raised coped verges in granite with scrolled kneelers, dating from circa 1820.

Exterior features include a two-light 15th-century window on the south side of the nave with cusped lights, square head, and hood mould, and one 15th-century window on the north side with two cusped lights in greenstone, with a buttress to the west. The chancel has late 19th-century Perpendicular windows: a three-light window to the east and two similar three-light windows to the north, topped with a stone cross finial. The north transept has a 19th-century west door with hollow-chamfered segmental arch, and two tall three-light windows to the east with cusped lights. The transept features long and short granite quoins and a circular stone stack at the gable end. The south aisle has four bays, all with three-light 19th-century Perpendicular windows. To the south is a priest's door with four-centred hollow-chamfered arch and a 19th-century door with strap hinges. Above this door is a slate sundial with nowy head, carved with a primitive face of the sun with rays, dated 1778. The south porch is gabled, of 19th-century date, with a four-centred arched doorway and double doors. The porch interior has a pitched slate floor, common rafter roof, and an inner four-centred arched doorway with a 19th-century door with strap hinges. The west tower is in two stages with an embattled parapet with pinnacles; the original west doorway was replaced by a 19th-century two-light window, and at the second stage are single 19th-century bell-openings with louvres.

Interior features include a slate floor in the tower and a 19th-century polychromatic tiled floor in the chancel. The walls are plastered. A 19th-century wagon roof runs continuously in the nave and chancel, and the same roof is in the south aisle, which retains at the east end the wall-plates, purlins, and bosses, all carved, of the late 15th-century roof. There is a tall rounded tower arch with imposts. The nave has a four-centred arch with imposts, formerly leading to the north transept, which is now blocked with a 19th-century pointed arched door inserted. A four-bay south arcade has Pevsner A-type piers with capitals carved with fleurons and four-centred moulded arches. The south aisle contains a piscina with ogee head. The north transept is ceiled and may retain some early roof structure; its gable end fireplace is blocked.

Fittings include a circular stone bowl font on a convex stem, possibly 13th-century, in the nave, and late 19th-century wooden benches and pulpit. A ledger stone in the south aisle bears a figure of a man with an inscription around the border commemorating Humphrey Calwodley (early 16th century). The chancel contains a marble monument on a slate ground to Francis Hext, dated 1842. Fragments of medieval glass in the tracery of the east window in the south aisle show the arms of Gifford of Helland.