Description

WELTON COWGATE
SE 9527
(south side)
9/65 Church of Saint Helen
7.2.68
II*
GV
Church. C15 with earlier origins, rebuilt in geometrical style, reusing
some older materials, by Sir G G Scott 1862-3. Small coursed oolitic
limestone rubble, freestone dressings, graduated slate roofs. 3-bay aisled
nave with south porch, central tower with north and south transepts, 3-bay
chancel with north vestry. Nave: low chamfered plinth: 2 sets of paired 2-
light pointed windows with geometrical tracery under hoodmoulds with
foliage-stops to west and face stops to east. Pointed south door of 3
orders: the inner with continuous moulding, the outer 2 on nook-shafts, all
under a hoodmould with foliage stops. Plain coped parapet. South porch:
massive buttresses flanking pointed opening of 2 orders on nook-shafts.
Hoodmould with bishop to west, actress to east. Raised coped gable with
Celtic cross finial. West end: angle buttresses. Central west door of 3
orders: the inner a continuous filleted roll, the outer two with similar
filleted rolls on nook-shafts, all under a hoodmould with monarch stops. To
right and left are buttresses with offsets and spurred gablets. 4-light
west window with geometrical tracery under a hoodmould with foliage stops.
Aisle windows of 2 lights with geometrical tracery under a hoodmould with
foliage stops. Raised coped gable with cross finial. North aisle:
buttresses with offsets. Three 3-light windows of 4 centred arches with
Perpendicular tracery under hoodmoulds. South transept: angle buttresses
with squared offset. Pointed 3-light south window with geometrical tracery
under a hoodmould. Similar, smaller 2-light window to east wall. North
transept: similar fenestration. Chancel: buttresses with offsets, diagonal
buttresses. Three 2-light square-headed windows: two to the east with
cusped ogee tracery, that to the west with cinquefoil heads, mirrored
upside-down in the upper section of the lights. Central tower: angle
buttresses. Small oblong windows to ringing chamber, string course to
belfry stage. 2-light pointed belfry openings with plate tracery under
hoodmoulds with face stops. Bracketed, coped parapet. Interior: north
arcade of 3 pointed, double-chamfered, arches on octagonal abaci and piers:
the east respond and pier are C15, the remainder by Scott. South arcade of
3 pointed moulded orders on cylindrical piers in Transitional style.
Crossing-arches: C15: pointed, double-hollow-chamfered, on moulded imposts
and hollow-chamfered responds. Re-set medieval arch to former north chancel
chapel: pointed and hollow-chamfered arch, on C12 scalloped capital to east
and C19 stiff-leaf capital to west: keeled responds. Original C13 lancet to
chancel north wall. In south-east corner of chancel is a C15 piscina: a
short column supports a basin under a 4-centred canopy beneath a brattished
parapet. At west end of south aisle is a late C12/early C13 effigy of a
cross-legged knight in chain mail. The church contains a fine group of
windows by Morris and Burne-Jones, paid for by a local family who were
related by marriage to Morris; there is also a startling window by
Capronnier.

Listing NGR: SE9589627305

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17555406

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

• 
  This Old House: Restoring, Rehabilitating, and Renovating an Older House
• 
  Oxfordshire: North and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Central Leinster: Kildare, Laois and Offaly (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)
• 
  A Buying and Owning a Listed Building: A Brief Guide
• 
  For the Record
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides): Written by Charles O'Brien, 2014 Edition, Publisher: Yale University Press [Hardcover]