Garstang, St Helen's Churchtown - Lancashire

Church of St Helen, Churchtown, Garstang, Lancashire

 

Grade I listed

 

List Entry Number: 1072874

 

National Grid Reference: SD 48162 42796

 

Details

 

KIRKLAND CHURCHTOWN SD 44 SE 7/130 Church of St. Helen 17-4-1967 GV I

 

Church, C15 with remains of c.1220 and c.1300, C16 alterations, clear storey and roof of 1811, restored 1865-8. Comprises a west tower, a nave and lower chancel with clear storey, north and south aisles, north-east vestry, south porch with C18 hearse-house, and south chapel. The tower has diagonal buttresses, a stair turret with stone spirelet, and an embattled parapet. The bell openings are of 2 trefoiled light under a flat head with hood. The west window is of 3 trefoiled lights with pointed head and Perpendicular tracery. The west door has a pointed head. The west window of the north aisle is C14 and is of 3 trefoiled lights under a pointed head with straight bar tracery. The south aisle west window is of c.1300, with cusped intersecting tracery. The north aisle has 4 bays, separated by buttresses, which have 3-light windows with pointed heads and Perpendicular tracery. To their west is a molded doorway with pointed head. Adjoining the east corner of the aisle is a 2-storey vestry, probably late C16. Its north wall has a window of 2 round-headed lights on each floor. Its east, gable, wall has a similar window of 3 lights to a ground-floor lean-to, and one of 2 lights above. On the gable is an octagonal chimney shaft. The east window of the north aisle is similar to those in its north wall. The clearstorey windows on both sides are of 3 pointed lights under flat heads. On the south side the gabled porch has an outer pointed doorway chamfered in orders. Adjoining its west side is a gabled hearse-house with a doorway with round arch and keystone dated 1754. The south chapel is of 2 bays, as is the south aisle. Their windows are similar to those of the north aisle. The chancel east window is of 5 cinquefoiled lights under a pointed head with Perpendicular tracery. Inside, the 5-bay nave arcades have pointed arches chamfered in 2 orders, probably C15, and round piers with capitals, possibly c.1300. The nave roof has bolted king post trusses. 2 pointed arches lead to the south chapel, which has a lean-to roof with moulded beams, and a wallplate with Latin inscription and date 1529. In the south wall is a piscina with trefoiled head, probably re-set. This wall has remains of wall painting. The chancel arch is pointed and moulded in 2 orders. Its southern pier has a squint, converted from a stone stair. The 2-bay north chancel arcade has compound piers and responds of c.1220 with stiff-leaf capitals. The west respond is lower and encased within later masonry. The piscina has a trefoiled head. The pulpit incorporates C17 carved woodwork and date '1646'. 2 of the rows of choir stalls incorporate medieval woodwork, with carved misericordes.

 

Listing NGR: SD4816242798

 

 

historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1072874

 

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Historically, the village of Churchtown was part of the ecclesiastical parish of Garstang, with St Helen's as the parish church. The oldest parts of the church date from the 13th century, these are the piers and responds in the chancel, and the arch piers in the nave. The church was rebuilt in the 15th and 16th centuries. In 1736, an overflow of the River Wyre flooded the churchyard and damaged the church, necessitating its restoration. In 1811 the roofs were replaced, the walls were raised and a clerestory added. Further restoration work took place 1865–1868.

 

An active church in the Church of England, St Helen's is part of the diocese of Blackburn, which is in the Province of York. It is in the archdeaconry of Blackburn and the Deanery of Garstang. It shares a benefice with St Michael's Church in St Michael's on Wyre. The official name of the parish is Garstang St Helen (Churchtown). St Helen's is known as the "Cathedral of the Fylde".

 

The stained glass in the church dates mostly from the 19th century. It includes work by Ward and Hughes, William Wailes and Heaton, Butler and Bayne.

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Uploaded on April 25, 2014
Taken on October 20, 2009