Description

YORK

SE6051NW ST HELEN'S SQUARE
1112-1/28/940 (North East side)
14/06/54 Church of St Helen

GV II*

Formerly known as: Church of St Helen STONEGATE.
Parish church. Reconstructed 1857 on earlier foundations,
incorporating C14 south arcade and C16 north arcade; restored
and tower rebuilt in 1875. 1857 reconstruction by WH Dykes;
1875 restoration by W Atkinson.
MATERIALS: magnesian limestone, with triple-span slate roof,
stone coped at east end.
PLAN: 4-bay aisled nave, continuous chancel with south vestry,
and west end lantern tower.
EXTERIOR: gabled east end has 4-light chancel window in
4-centred head beneath hoodmould, and 3-light window in
2-centred head to south aisle, both with quatrefoil tracery.
North side not visible. South side on chamfered plinth
articulated by gabled offset buttresses, the westernmost bay
blank and narrowed to splayed corner bay: three 3-light
windows with traceried heads in stilted 4-centred arches, and
chamfered sill band. Embattled parapet. West door and window
recessed beneath tall 2-centred double chamfered arch
springing from 2-stage buttresses crowned by crocketed
finials. Tudor arched doorway beneath flat hoodmould has
carved spandrels, colonnette jambs and double doors of
traceried panelling. West window is of 4 cinquefoiled lights
with panel tracery in 2-centred head. Windows to aisles and
splayed corner bay are of 3 ogee-arched lights beneath cusped
tracery in 2-centred heads, and headstopped hoodmoulds.
Parapet is embattled and traceried. Octagonal lantern,
buttressed at each angle, has tiered trefoil-headed lights
beneath ogee-arched mouldings, and embattled pierced parapet:
to west, trefoil-headed niche beneath ogee hoodmould between
miniature crocketed finials.
INTERIOR: north arcade of double chamfered 2-centred arches,
eastern arch 4-centred, on octagonal piers and responds: only
easternmost pier has capital, a hollow chamfered C15 base
reused. Continuous hoodmould on C19 stops, except for two
early C16 ones flanking eastern arch, one representing the
seated figures of God the Father and Christ receiving a soul,
the other St Michael and the Angels. South arcade repeats the
north, but the inner order dies into piers, the outer springs
from moulded corbels.
FITTINGS: include: C12 bowl font, arcaded beneath border of
palmette mouldings, on C15 quatrefoil foot and C13 inverted
capital base. Two C18 Benefaction Boards in North Aisle.
Mayoral Board with Royal Arms of George III, dated 1802.
STAINED GLASS: the church was the Glaziers' church, but
medieval glass must have been lost when it was declared

redundant and partly demolished in 1551. Fragments of medieval
and later glass have been reassembled in the chancel south
window; north aisle west window; south aisle east and
south-west windows.
MONUMENTS: include: north aisle: early C19 marble wall tablet
to Theophilus Davyes Garencieres and family, by Taylor: wall
monument to John Stow (d.1775) and family: floor slab to
William (d.1789) and Rachel (d.18..) Brooke. South aisle:
marble tablet with cornice to Ann Acaster (d.1834), by
Flintoft: marble tablet with draped urn to Thomas Hartley of
Heslington (d.1808), by Taylor: Gothick wall monument to James
Atkinson (d.1839) and his widow, Ann (d.1840), by T Hayes of
Beverley: inscribed brass plate in plain marble surround to
Barbara and Elizabeth Davyes, 1667-1765 and 1669-1767
respectively, erected by their nephew Theophilus Davyes
Garencieres: floor slabs to Tobias Conyars, Canon of York
(d.1686), and to Elizabeth, wife of Richard Acklam, (1722/3),
with shields of arms.
(Bartholomew City Guides: Hutchinson J and Palliser DM: York:
Edinburgh: 1980-: 157-58; Murray H, Riddick S & Green R: York
through the Eyes of the Artist: York City Art Gallery: 1990-:
89; City of York: RCHME: The Central Area: HMSO: 1981-:
20-22).

Listing NGR: SE6020551970

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Church of St Helen at Wikipedia
• Church of St Helen official website
• Wikidata Q17549551

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Hampshire: South (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  The green guide for historic buildings: how to improve the environmental performance of listed and historic buildings
• 
  County Durham (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England) by Elizabeth Williamson Nikolaus Pevsner(1983-03-11)
• 
  London 1: The City of London: City of London v. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Churches: An Architectural Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
• 
  Pevsner's Architectural Glossary (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)