Church Of St John

Church of St John, Helsington

An Anglican hillside church built in 1726 with later additions and incorporating a World War I war memorial mural.

The church is constructed of limestone with sandstone architectural details and is rendered externally beneath a graduated Westmorland slate roof. The body is rectangular in plan with later additions to the north and south sides.

The east gable features a pointed-arched window with intersecting tracery and stone kneelers supporting the coping, which rises to an apex topped with a stone cross. The nave walls comprise five bays with rectangular two-light chamfered mullion windows and chamfered stone surrounds. A pitched-roofed porch with modern glass and timber doors occupies the second bay from the west on the south side. On the north façade, a modern lean-to kitchen extension is attached to the two western bays, and a pitched-roofed vestry has been added to the easternmost bay. The west gable has a similar window and kneelers to the east gable and is topped by a pitched-roofed belfry holding a single bell.

Inside, the chancel has oak panelling to half height with a wall cupboard in the north wall. The stained glass east window depicts Christ on the cross and forms the focus for Marion de Saumarez's World War I war memorial mural, executed in oils on linen canvas stretched over a wooden frame of robust construction. The mural depicts angels kneeling and facing Christ against a background of rivers, pastures and mountains. The inscription beneath reads: "TO THE GLORY OF GOD AND IN MEMORY OF ALL FAITHFUL DEPARTED ESPECIALLY THOSE WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES IN THE GREAT WAR 1914-1919."

The roof is scissor-braced with a carved tie-beam bearing the words "BY THY CROSS AND PASSION GOOD LORD DELIVER US" surmounted by a carved cross. Furnishings include a timber pulpit raised on a moulded red sandstone base, a matching reading desk and communion rail, an altar with painted leather floral panels, and an organ with matching lyre-ended stool. The nave walls are whitewashed plaster and windows are leaded in a design of small squares. A central aisle with parquet floor is flanked by bench pews. At the west end stands a sandstone font. Timber partitioning at the north west corner creates a small office room. A modern glass-panelled door leads to the kitchen extension on the north, while oak double doors lead to the south porch.

The churchyard is defined by a drystone wall, with a double gateway of stone piers and a pedestrian squeeze stile to its right, lying west of the church.

The church was built as a chapel in 1726 on the initiative of John Jackson of nearby Holeslack Farm. It is now the parish church of Helsington, a hill-farming district in South Cumbria. Restoration occurred in 1898, when the stained glass east window was given by William Stavert, High Sheriff, in memory of his sister Elizabeth Vose of Liverpool. In 1902 local gentry subscribed to purchase a chamber organ made by Samuel Penn of Manchester circa 1845. Further restoration towards the end of the first decade of the 20th century included panelling of the chancel walls and fitting of the pulpit, reading desk, communion rail and altar. On 31 August 1919 a war memorial was dedicated to the nine men of the parish who fell in World War I. The mural was produced by Marion de Saumarez (1885–1978). In recent years a modern kitchen extension has been added to the north west corner.

Marion de Saumarez studied at the Académie Julian in Paris. In 1905 she gained Honourable Mention for a painting at the Salon, and the following year exhibited portrait paintings in London and Paris. She undertook two World War I war memorial paintings: this one at Helsington and a painting entitled "The Altar of Sacrifice" located in the Grade I listed St Andrew's Church, Tostock, Suffolk, close to her home.