Church Of Saint Helen

The Church of St Helen is a building of group value, retaining elements from the Anglo-Saxon period through to the 19th century. The earliest part is an Anglo-Saxon west wall of the nave, and a tower of two builds – the upper stage being 15th century. Around 1190, a north aisle was added with two bays, extended in the 13th century. The south aisle and chancel date from around 1300, with 16th-century clerestory windows. A south porch was constructed in 1821-22 and the church was restored by J.L. Pearson in 1877. The church is built of magnesian limestone with a plain tile roof.

The building consists of a three-stage west tower, a three-bay aisled nave with a south porch, and a two-bay chancel. The tower has quoins and narrow slit windows to the first two stages, with bands marking each stage. The third stage features twin light, trefoil-headed bell openings and battlements with pinnacles. The south porch has a pointed arched opening with a restored round-arched plank door dating from the 19th century, featuring decorative 13th-century ironwork, a chamfered surround, and a dog-tooth hoodmould. The south aisle has a buttress at the west end and includes two lancet windows, one 3-light window with intersecting tracery, a 3-cinquefoil light, straight-headed window to the west end, and a 3-light pointed window with geometrical tracery towards the east end. The north aisle has buttresses and a pointed plank doorway in a chamfered surround. There are also three-cinquefoil-light, straight-headed windows to the west, another similar window, and a 3-light straight-headed window with shouldered arches to the east. The clerestory is characterised by two-light mullion windows. The chancel has, to its north side, a plank priest’s door. It also contains two 3-light straight-headed windows with cusped intersecting tracery on each side, and a similar five-light window to the east end.

Inside, the round tower arch has a projecting block instead of a capital, with pilaster strips carried round the arch, which are semi-circular and oblong in section. There is a round-headed doorway above, and an oblong recess in the first stage of the east wall of the tower. The nave features a three-bay, double-chamfered, pointed arcade; the two westernmost arches have dog-tooth decoration to their hoodmoulds. The piers are mainly octagonal, some with nailhead decoration. One cylindrical pier to the south aisle is notable for its waterleaf capital and cruciform abacus. The chancel has a piscina, and a plain wooden almsbox dated 1615. Fragments of medieval stained glass are incorporated into some windows.