St Helen's Church, Ashby-de-la-Zouch
St Helen's Church, Ashby-de-la-Zouch | |
---|---|
Grade I listed building | |
Architectural type | English Gothic |
Administration | |
Province | Canterbury |
Diocese | Diocese of Leicester |
Archdeaconry | Loughborough |
Parish | Ashby-de-la-Zouch |
Clergy | |
Rector | Rev Canon Mary E Gregory |
Laity | |
Organist(s) | Andrew Chapman |
Churchwarden(s) | Helen Smith and Caroline Essex |
St Helen's Church is the Anglican parish church of Ashby-de-la-Zouch, in the deanery of North West Leicestershire and the Diocese of Leicester. There was a church in the town in the 11th century, but the core of the present building mainly dates from work started in 1474, when the church was rebuilt by William Hastings at the same time that he converted his neighbouring manor house into a castle. The church was refurbished in about 1670 to create more space, but the large and increasing size of the congregation led to further work in 1829, and a major rebuild in 1878–80, including the widening of the nave by the addition of two outer aisles.
The
History
Foundation to 1547
There is little documented history of
It is recorded in Domesday that a priest was resident in Ashby, and that the church dedicated to
Parts of the current nave and chancel date from the 14th century,[6] but the church was rebuilt and enlarged by William Hastings in 1474, at the same time that he erected the tower of his nearby castle.[3] The new, larger church included a nave with aisles and chapels adjoining the chancel.[6] The tower, Hastings Chapel, and some buttresses and windows still remain from the 15th century.[4]
Reformation and after
The
Around 1670, the church was refurbished, a gallery was built at the western end of the nave, and the carved
St Helen's Church is the parish church of the English market town of Ashby-de-la-Zouch in Leicestershire. The parish is currently in the deanery of North West Leicestershire, the Diocese of Leicester and the Province of Canterbury.[13]
Description
St Helen's Church has a maximum length of 41.70 metres (136.8 ft)[14] and is aligned at 25° north of east.[15] The majority of English churches have an alignment within a few degrees of east, so this is an exceptionally large deviation from the norm.[16][17] The sandstone church has a large, mainly 15th-century west tower supported by corner buttresses and topped with battlements and pinnacles. The tower has a four-light window and west doorway, and contains a spiral stairway to the bell and clock chambers and the roof. The chancel is adjoined by the former north chapel (now the vestry) on one side and the Hastings Chapel, set transept-wise on the other;[4] it has three sedilia and a piscina on its northern wall.[14] The nave is significantly wider than it is long,[4] and has four bays with medieval inner north and south aisles and 19th-century outer aisles. The Hastings Chapel, chancel and clerestory are embattled, and the former north chapel is English Perpendicular, with a window of the same style.[14][18] The piers in the nave were remodelled in the 15th century, and have incised panels, as do some of the arches. This feature is of an unusual style and is also seen at Sherborne Abbey in Dorset and at St Peter and St Paul, Syston, Leicestershire.[14][18]
The Chapel of St Michael and All Angels and the
St Helen's Church was designated as a Grade I listed building in 1950, recognising it as a building of exceptional interest. It is important not only for the medieval structures that remain, but also for its monuments and fittings. The Victorian restoration is also noted as being of high quality and in keeping with the older parts of the church.[6]
Furnishings and fixtures
The church had much stained glass in 1622 that disappeared during the Reformation. The current eleven coloured glass windows on the north, west and south sides of the church were erected in 1879 by Lavers, Barraud and Westlake, each being named for its donor; the scenes depicted tell the Life of Christ from the Annunciation to the Last Supper.[6][21] The stained glass in the chancel and the Hasting Chapel was erected in 1924, and most was once in the castle;[22] the earliest glass is a German, Swiss and Flemish work possibly originally from Farleigh Hungerford.[18] The chancel's east window contains arms of Richard I and Edward I and the south window includes "The Magi bearing gifts" and the arms of Catherine Parr. The Hastings Chapel south window has several panels from the 15th and 16th centuries, and one which could possibly be as old as the 13th century. The chapel's east window also has some high quality work, including "The Last Supper". The large west window in the tower is plain glass, as is the clerestory.[22]
The rare
The Baroque wooden reredos of 1679, probably by local man Thomas Sabin, has been compared favourably with the work of Christopher Wren and Grinling Gibbons,[14] and the metal screen also made by an Ashby craftsman, John Staley,[22] is also of high quality.[25] There is a Royal Arms from the reign of Charles II high on the west wall of the nave.[14] The alabaster pulpit and octagonal font were made by Earp in 1878–1880. The font is carved from a single block of stone and decorated on each face with Christian symbols, and rests on red granite pillars on a Portland stone base. The pulpit is similarly supported to match the font.[26] A second, smaller font with a panelled stem is in the southwestern corner of the nave.[14]
The church contains a pipe organ of uncertain date made by Kirkland of London at their Wakefield branch which opened in 1893.[22][27] Its most recent restorations were in 1935 and 1955.[22] It has three manuals and a pedalboard, and is described on the National Pipe Organ Register as being of an "unusual" type.[28]
There is a north-facing clock on the tower,
Hastings Chapel and memorials
The Hastings Chapel contains a number of family monuments, including a large alabaster tomb for
The Lady Chapel contains a wall memorial to Arthur Hildersham and a painted wooden bust of Margery Wright, who died in 1623. The inscription below records that she had given £43 (equivalent to £8,400 in 2021)[12] to provide gowns for the old and needy of the town.[33] The Chapel of St Michael and All Angel has a recumbent alabaster effigy known as "the Pilgrim". The subject holds a pilgrim's staff and other symbols such as a wide hat with cockle shells. A dog lies at his feet. The 15th-century figure was originally brightly painted, and depicts a person of noble birth. It is believed to represent Thomas, the third brother of William Hastings.[34] A number of carved alabaster memorial slabs were removed when the church was re-pewed in 1829. Only one survives, a memorial to Robert Mundy, who died in 1526, and his two wives, both named Elizabeth; it now stands upright by the west wall.[34]
The arch gateway at the western end of the churchyard bears a skull and crossbones at the top of each pillar.[15] The memorials in the churchyard are mainly dated 1750–1850, and most are lined against the churchyard's south wall or are flush with the ground. Some show fine carving, commensurate with commercial success. They include the memorials of French-born wine merchant Jean Gaudin and the Litherland brothers, founders of Royal Crown Derby.[35] From 1804, French prisoners of war were quartered in Ashby, and those who died before their release, or who stayed and married local women, are also buried in the churchyard.[36] A group of memorials are for members of a prosperous local family, the Mammatts.[35] Edward Mammatt, church organist for 40 years and a successful scientist despite being blinded at age six, also has a monument in the church, and one of the Victorian windows is dedicated to his widow by their sons.[21][37]
Other burials
- Henry Hastings, 3rd Earl of Huntingdon
- George Hastings, 4th Earl of Huntingdon
- Francis Hastings (died 1595)
- Ferdinando Hastings, 6th Earl of Huntingdon
- Theophilus Hastings, 7th Earl of Huntingdon
- Francis Hastings, 16th Earl of Huntingdon and his wife Margaret Lane
- Katherine Neville, Baroness Hastings (within the Lady Chapel)
- Elizabeth Stanley, Countess of Huntingdon
People
The
Henry Hastings, the third earl, was a zealous promoter of
Services and congregation
As of 2017, the church is managed as part of the "Ashby and Breedon Team Ministry", which also includes
The Ashe lectures, endowed by Francis Ashe in 1654, provided for weekly lectures in the church by a "godly, orthodox and ordained minister". This was later amended to allow for at least one lecture each year. Twentieth-century lecturers include Geoffrey Fisher, Donald Coggan, Donald Soper and George Carey.[3]
Heritage project
In 2014, the
The project's preparatory 2013 archaeological dig that discovered the vicarage ruins also unearthed the remains of a
References
- ^ Scott (1907) pp. 1–8.
- ^ Hillier (1984) pp. 12–15.
- ^ a b c d Williams (1980) pp. 4–5.
- ^ a b c d Scott (1907) pp. 307–308.
- ^ Elliott, L; Webb, P (2013). Church Hall, Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire. Nottingham: Trent and Peak Archaeology. p. 2.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Historic England. "Parish church of St Helen (1188344)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
- ^ Haigh (1987) pp. 119–121.
- ^ Nye (1965) p. 71.
- ^ Hillier (2010) p. 13.
- ^ a b c d e f Hillier (1984) pp. 22–23.
- ^ Pemberton, W (1989). "The Parochial Inspections of Andrew Burnaby D.D., Archdeacon of Leicester, in the years 1793 to 1797" (PDF). Transactions of the Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society. 63: 52–64.
- ^ a b c UK Retail Price Index inflation figures are based on data from Clark, Gregory (2017). "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
- ^ "St. Helen's, Ashby de la Zouch". A church near you. Church of England. Retrieved 21 October 2014.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Thompson, A Hamilton (1927–1928). "Ashby-de-la-Zouch:I.—Architectural Notes on the Church" (PDF). Transactions of the Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society. 15: 56–64.
- ^ a b c d e Starkey, Julie. St Helen's Church ... a short tour Ashby-de-la-Zouch:St Helen's Church. pp. 2–6.
- doi:10.1006/jhge.2000.0210. Archived from the original(PDF) on 4 March 2016.
- ^ Hinton, Ian (2007). "Churches face East, don't they?". British Archaeology. 94 (3). Archived from the original on 11 March 2016.
- ^ a b c Pevsner and Williamson (1985) pp. 79–80.
- ^ Williams (1980) p. 25.
- ^ a b Williams (1980) pp. 12–15.
- ^ a b Scott (1907) pp. 317–326.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Williams (1980) pp. 7–9.
- ^ Scott (1907) pp. 347–348.
- ^ Sherlock, Robert (1979–1980). "Chandeliers in Leicestershire and Rutland Churches" (PDF). Transactions of the Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society. 55: 49–64.
- ^ Williams (1980) p. 10.
- ^ Williams (1980) p. 6.
- ^ "Kirkland". National Pipe Organ Register. British Institute of Organ Studies. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
- ^ "Leicestershire Ashby de la Zouch, St. Helen [N04547]". National Pipe Organ Register. British Institute of Organ Studies. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
- ^ Scott (1907) pp. 313–314.
- ^ "42,600 was awarded to St Helen's Church for St Helen's Church Bells Restoration". Heritage Lottery Fund. 11 August 2005. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
- ^ Scott (1907) pp. 330–333.
- ^ Scott (1907) p. 316.
- ^ Scott (1907) p. 343–346.
- ^ a b Scott (1907) pp. 327–328.
- ^ a b Abney-Hastings (2002) pp. 8, 15–18.
- ^ Scott (1907) pp. 288, 292–295.
- ^ Scott (1907) p. 293.
- ^ Williams (1980) pp. 19–20.
- ^ Cross (1966) pp. 132–135.
- ^ Braddick (2009) p. 75.
- ^ Cross (1966) pp. 141–142.
- ^ Scott (1907) pp. 96–97.
- ^ Phillips, Tim. "Ashby and Breedon". Church of England. Archived from the original on 27 October 2014. Retrieved 27 October 2014.
- ^ "St Helen's Church, Ashby". St Helen's Church. Archived from the original on 7 July 2012. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
- ^ "St Helen's Heritage Project - Ashby de la Zouch". Heritage Lottery Fund. 2014. Archived from the original on 5 November 2016. Retrieved 5 November 2016.
- ^ a b Heritage officer (2016). "St Helen's Community Heritage Centre". Ashby Life. 126 (11): 76.
Cited texts
- Abney-Hastings, Peter (2002). Rambles in St Helen's Churchyard. Ashby-de-la-Zouch: Ashby-de-la-Zouch Museum.
- Braddick, Michael (2009). God's Fury, England's Fire: a new history of the English Civil Wars. London: Penguin. ISBN 978-0-14-100897-4.
- Cross, Claire (1966). The Puritan Earl, the life of Henry Hastings, Third Earl of Huntingdon, 1536–1595. London: Macmillan.
- Haigh, Christopher (1987). The English Reformation Revised. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-33631-7.
- Hillier, Kenneth (1984). The Book of Ashby-de-la-Zouch. Buckingham: Baron. ISBN 978-0-86023-217-9.
- Hillier, Kenneth (2010). Ashby-de-la-Zouch and the Great Civil War. Ashby-de-la-Zouch: Ashby-de-la-Zouch Museum. ISBN 978-0-9547799-4-8.
- Nye, Thelma M. (1965). Parish church architecture. London: Batsford.
- Pevsner, Nikolaus; Williamson, Elizabeth (1984). Leicestershire and Rutland (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England). New Haven CT: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-09618-7.
- Scott, W. (1975) [1907]. The Story of Ashby-de-la-Zouch. London: White Lion.
- West, John Ebenezer (1899). Cathedral Organists Past and Present. London: Novello.
- Williams, Richard H. (1980). The Parish Church of St Helen Ashby-de-la-Zouch: a History and Guide. Ashby-de-la-Zouch: G. C. Frost.