St Helen's Church, Ashby-de-la-Zouch

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St Helen's Church, Ashby-de-la-Zouch

From the southeast

St Helen's Church, Ashby-de-la-Zouch

524450.4N 128.8WCoordinates: 524450.4N 128.8W

Location Ashby de la Zouch, Leicestershire

Country United Kingdom

Denomination Church of England

Previous denomination Roman Catholic

Churchmanship Broad Church

Website http://sthelensashby.net/
 History

Dedication St. Helen

Architecture

Heritage designation Grade I listed building

Architectural type English Gothic

Administration

Parish Ashby-de-la-Zouch

Archdeaconry Loughborough

Diocese Diocese of Leicester

Province Canterbury

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. Although there was a church in the town in the
eleventh century, 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 187880,
including the widening of the nave by the addition of two outer aisles.
The sandstone church has a tower at the west end, and its nave is wider than it is long due to the
extra Victorian aisles. St Helen's Church has some ancient stained glass at the east end, and the
Victorian windows on the nave and towers form a coherent narrative of the life of Jesus. Other
fixtures include some important funereal monuments, and a font, pulpit and carved heads
by Thomas Earp. The finger pillory is a rare item, once seen as a humane form of punishment. The
church has a long association with the Hastings family, its patrons for four centuries, and became a
centre for Puritanism under Henry Hastings, 3rd Earl of Huntingdon. The "Puritan Earl" brought a
series of radical figures to the town, including Anthony Gilby and Arthur Hildersham. St Helen's
Church is a nationally important building, with a Grade I listing for its exceptional architectural
interest.

Contents
[hide]
 1History
o 1.1Foundation to 1547
o 1.2Reformation and after
2Description
o 2.1Furnishings and fixtures
o 2.2Hastings Chapel and memorials
3People
4Services and congregation
5Heritage project
6References
7Cited texts
8External links

History
Foundation to 1547

14th15th century
19th century
1 St Michael & All Angels Chapel; 2Lady Chapel; 3 Hastings Chapel; 4pulpit; 5 Earp font; 6 font

There is little documented history of Ashby-de-la-Zouch before the Norman Conquest,

although Roman coins were found in the area, and the town's name has both Saxon and Danish
elements. It has an entry in the Domesday Book, which suggests that it had about 100 inhabitants in
1086, and subsequently grew in importance under its La Zouch and Hastings lords, notably William
Hastings.[1][2]
It is recorded in Domesday that a priest was resident in Ashby, and that the church dedicated to St
Helen consisted only of a nave. In about 1144, Philip Beaumais, lord of the Manor of Ashby, granted
the church, its lands and revenues to the Augustinian community of Lilleshall Abbey, which retained
possession until 1538.[3][4] A 2013 excavation found evidence of a two-story vicarage dating from this
period, but the building fell into disrepair following the Dissolution of the Monasteries and the site
was cleared in the English Civil War of 164249.[5]
Parts of the current nave and chancel date from the fourteenth 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
fifteenth century.[4]
Reformation and after
The nave and galleries prior to the 1878 restoration

The nave and chancel in 2014

The English Reformation inevitably affected St Helen's Church. Edward VI's 1547 injunction decreed
that all images in churches were to be dismantled or destroyed, including stained
glass, shrines, roods, statues and bells,[7] and altars were to be replaced by wooden
tables.[8] Damage during the Civil War was minimal, although there are pike marks on the
stonework.[3] The church may have been fortified as part of the defences of the castle,
a Royalist stronghold.[9]
Around 1670, the church was refurbished, a gallery was built at the western end of the nave, and the
carved reredos and a large wooden Royal coat of arms, now at the west end of the nave, were
acquired at the same time.[10] An inspection report at the end of the eighteenth century commented
on the dirty transept walls, and the need to install the equivalent of a cattle grid to keep pigs out of
the churchyard. Rich crimson hangings in the church had earlier attracted the attention of a
thief.[11] The increasing congregation led to the replacement of the pews and the construction of
galleries down both sides of the building in 1829,[10] but a more extensive rebuilding was undertaken
in 187880, by James Piers St Aubyn. The galleries were removed and the two outer aisles were
added during this period, a chapel was converted to a vestry and improvements were made to the
Hastings Chapel. The cost of these works has been estimated as between 16,000 and more than
18,000.[6][10] Later developments included the expenditure of 13,000 between 1963 and 1968 to
combat deathwatch beetles found during rewiring, improvements to the heating system, and a
rededication in 1974, the quincentenary of the church.[10]
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.[12]

Description
St Helen's Church has a maximum length of 41.70 metres (136.8 ft)[13] and is aligned at 25 north of
east.[14] The majority of English churches have an alignment within a few degrees of east, so this is
an exceptionally large deviation from the norm.[15][16] The sandstone church has a large, mainly
fifteenth-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.[13] The nave is significantly wider than it
is long,[4] and has four bays with medieval inner north and south aisles and nineteenth-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.[13][17] The piers in the nave were
remodelled in the fifteenth century, and have incised panels, as do some of the arches. This feature
is of an unusual style, although it is seen also at Sherborne Abbey in Dorset and at St Peter and St
Paul, Syston, Leicestershire.[13][17]

The finger pillory

The Chapel of St Michael and All Angels and the Lady Chapel are at the east end of the outer north
and south aisles respectively,[18] and contain twenty of the twenty-eight stone heads carved
by Thomas Earp of Lambeth in 18781880, mostly depicting biblical characters such
as Salome and John the Baptist, or historical figures like St Helen and Martin Luther. Ten are paired
on opposite sides of the five pillars defining the inner edge of the Lady Chapel aisle, and another ten
are similarly arranged in the Chapel of St Michael and All Angels. The corbels of the north, west and
south doors bear six more heads, those by the west door depicting Queen Victoria and Archbishop
Tait; and Jesus and Moses are higher on the corbels of the west window.[19] The clerestory and the
wooden roofs of the nave and south inner aisle are fifteenth century, but the rest of the lead-clad
roofing dates from the Victorian rebuilding.[6][13]
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

Hastings Chapel east window

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][20] The stained glass in the chancel and
the Hasting Chapel was erected in 1924, and most was once in the castle,[21]although the earliest
glass is a German, Swiss and Flemish work possibly originally from Farleigh Hungerford.[17] 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 fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and one which could possibly be as old as the
thirteenth 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.[21]

The organ

The rare finger pillory at the west end immobilised offenders without exposing them to the public
degradation associated with the stocks.[13][22] In the centre aisle hangs a large
brass candelabrum donated by Leonard Piddocke, High Bailiff of Leicester, in 1733. It is surmounted
by a brass dove and was made by William Parsons of London. Some of the branches were stolen in
1776, but soon recovered.[21][23]
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,[13] and the metal screen also
made by an Ashby craftsman, John Staley,[21] is also of high quality.[24] There is a Royal Arms from
the reign of Charles II high on the west wall of the nave.[13] The alabaster pulpit and
octagonal font were made by Earp in 18781880. 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.[25] A second, smaller font with a
panelled stem is in the southwestern corner of the nave.[13]
The church contains a pipe organ of uncertain date made by Kirkland of London at
their Wakefield branch which opened in 1893.[21][26] Its most recent restorations were in 1935 and
1955.[21] It has three manuals and a pedalboard, and is described on the National Pipe Organ
Register as being of an "unusual" type.[27]
There is a north-facing clock on the tower,[6] and a sundial on the south side which was rediscovered
and repaired in 2000. The masonry shows that it was built at the same time as that part of the
tower.[14] The tower holds a ring originally of eight bells; the earliest dates back to 1571, but was
recast in 1849, and all eight bells were repaired by John Taylor & Co in 1886.[28] The bells were
repaired and rehung again in 2006 using 42,600 of National Lottery funding awarded from
the Heritage Lottery Fund. The tenor bell was recast, and two new trebles were made, bringing the
total to ten;[14][29] prior to the last recasting, the large tenor bell weighed 902 kilograms (1,989 lb).[19]
Hastings Chapel and memorials
Alabaster tomb to Francis Hastings, 2nd Earl of Huntingdon

The Hastings Chapel contains a number of family monuments, including a large alabaster tomb
for Francis Hastings, 2nd Earl of Huntingdon, who died in 1561, and his countess,
Catherine.[21][30] The monument was carved by Joseph Pickford to a design by William Kent.[6][14] A
memorial to Theophilus Hastings, 9th Earl of Huntingdon, who died in 1746, is on the east wall and
is by Michael Rysbrack.[13] His widow, Selina, founded a training college for evangelical ministers,
and a sculpture of her in mourning, also by Rysbrack, is placed by her husband's memorial. The
countess herself is remembered through a large brass plaque in the chancel floor. The larger of two
vaults containing the coffins of the Hastings family lies beneath the chancel, and the smaller and
older one is under their chapel.[21][31]

The 1474 columns, with the Victorian piers further back. In the background, from left to right, are parts of the
chancel, Hastings Chapel and Lady Chapel

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 to provide
gowns for the old and needy of the town.[32] 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 fifteenth-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.[33] 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.[33]
The arch gateway at the western end of the churchyard bears a skull and crossbones at the top of
each pillar.[14] The memorials in the churchyard are mainly dated 17501850, 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.[34] 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.[35] A group of memorials are for
members of a prosperous local family, the Mammatts.[34] 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.[20][36]

People
Main article: List of vicars of St Helen's Church, Ashby-de-la-Zouch

Henry Hastings by an unknown artist at the National Portrait Gallery, London

The advowson of St Helen's Church, including the right to nominate the vicar, was owned by
Lilleshall Abbey until 1508, when it passed to the Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield. The Dissolution
of the Monasteries led to the transfer of the patronage to Francis Hastings, the 2nd Earl of
Huntingdon, and it remained with the Hastings family until 1931, passing then to John G. Shields
and his descendants. The names of the vicars are known back to Roger in 1200.[37]
Henry Hastings, the third earl, was a zealous promoter of puritanism and founded Ashby Grammar
School to provide education in accordance with his religious views. Anthony Gilby had lived in exile
in Geneva during the reign of Mary, but was invited to Ashby by the earl and made the town a
nationally important centre for radical Protestantism. Attempts by the church authorities to discipline
him failed, and he died after 25 years spent preaching and pamphleteering.[10][38]Hastings' influence
meant that between 1562 and 1632 Ashby had a succession of Puritan ministers. The last of these
was Arthur Hildersham, another influential figure who sought to internationalise radical
Protestantism,[39] but became vulnerable to the strictures of his bishop after Henry Hastings died in
1595. Hildersham was barred from preaching or deprived of his living for 17 of the 38 years of his
incumbency,[10][40] Earl Henry was interred in St Helen's after a lavish funeral befitting his status as
Lord President of the Council of the North.[41]

Services and congregation

As of 2017, the church is managed as part of the "Ashby and Breedon Team Ministry", which also
includes Holy Trinity, Ashby-de-la-Zouch; The Priory Church of Saint Mary and Saint Hardulph,
Breedon on the Hill; St Mary the Virgin, Coleorton; St John's Chapel, Coleorton; All Saints
Church, Isley Walton and St Matthew's Church, Worthington.[42] The church operates "Little Fishes",
a mother and toddler group, and its street pastors work in outreach and liaison with the town
community.[43]
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 Heritage Lottery Fund awarded 648,300 to the St Helen's Heritage Project.[44] The grant
was to finance a three-year project to build a Heritage Centre opposite the south side of the church.
When completed, the Heritage Centre will have a display area, kitchen, rooms for hire and a garden.
The church plans to have trained guides and visitor activities, and to offer craft courses in, for
example, calligraphy and stone carving.[45]
The project's preparatory 2013 archaeological dig that discovered the vicarage ruins also unearthed
the remains of a tithe barn, trenches from the Civil War and parts of a causeway, along with smaller
domestic items.[45]

References
1. Jump up^ Scott (1907) pp. 18.
2. Jump up^ Hillier (1984) pp. 1215.
3. ^ Jump up to:a b c d Williams (1980) pp. 45.
4. ^ Jump up to:a b c d Scott (1907) pp. 307308.
5. Jump up^ Elliott, L; Webb, P (2013). Church Hall, Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire. Nottingham:
Trent and Peak Archaeology. p. 2.
6. ^ Jump up to:a b c d e f g h "Parish church of St Helen". List entry. English Heritage. Retrieved 13
November 2014.
7. Jump up^ Haigh (1987) pp. 119121.
8. Jump up^ Nye (1965) p. 71.
9. Jump up^ Hillier (2010) p. 13.
10. ^ Jump up to:a b c d e f Hillier (1984) pp. 2223.
11. Jump up^ 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: 5264.
12. Jump up^ "St. Helen's, Ashby de la Zouch". A church near you. Church of England. Retrieved 21
October 2014.
13. ^ Jump up to:a b c d e f g h i j Thompson, A Hamilton (19271928). "Ashby-de-la-Zouch:I.Architectural
Notes on the Church" (PDF). Transactions of the Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical
Society. 15: 5664.
14. ^ Jump up to:a b c d e Starkey, Julie. St Helen's Church ... a short tour Ashby-de-la-Zouch:St Helen's
Church. pp. 26.
15. Jump up^ Hoare, Peter G; Sweet, Caroline S (2000). "The orientation of early medieval churches in
England" (PDF). Journal of Historical Geography. 26 (2): 162173. doi:10.1006/jhge.2000.0210.
Archived from the original (PDF)on 2016-03-04.
16. Jump up^ Hinton, Ian (2007). "Churches face East, don't they?". British Archaeology. 94 (3).
Archived from the original on 2016-03-11.
17. ^ Jump up to:a b c Pevsner and Williamson (1985) pp. 7980.
18. Jump up^ Williams (1980) p. 25.
19. ^ Jump up to:a b Williams (1980) pp. 1215.
20. ^ Jump up to:a b Scott (1907) pp. 317326.
21. ^ Jump up to:a b c d e f g h Williams (1980) pp. 79.
22. Jump up^ Scott (1907) pp. 347348.
23. Jump up^ Sherlock, Robert (19791980). "Chandeliers in Leicestershire and Rutland
Churches" (PDF). Transactions of the Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society. 55: 4964.
24. Jump up^ Williams (1980) p. 10.
25. Jump up^ Williams (1980) p. 6.
26. Jump up^ "Kirkland". National Pipe Organ Register. British Institute of Organ Studies. Retrieved 4
December 2014.
 27. Jump up^ "Leicestershire Ashby de la Zouch, St. Helen [N04547]". National Pipe Organ Register.
British Institute of Organ Studies. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
28. Jump up^ Scott (1907) pp. 313314.
29. Jump up^ "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.
30. Jump up^ Scott (1907) pp. 330333.
31. Jump up^ Scott (1907) p. 316.
32. Jump up^ Scott (1907) p. 343346.
33. ^ Jump up to:a b Scott (1907) pp. 327328.
34. ^ Jump up to:a b Abney-Hastings (2002) pp. 8, 1518.
35. Jump up^ Scott (1907) pp. 288, 292295.
36. Jump up^ Scott (1907) p. 293.
37. Jump up^ Williams (1980) pp. 1920.
38. Jump up^ Cross (1966) pp. 132135.
39. Jump up^ Braddick (2009) p. 75.
40. Jump up^ Cross (1966) pp. 141142.
41. Jump up^ Scott (1907) pp. 9697.
42. Jump up^ Phillips, Tim. "Ashby and Breedon". Church of England. Retrieved 27 October 2014.
43. Jump up^ "St Helen's Church, Ashby". St Helen's Church. Archived from the original on 2012-07-07.
Retrieved 5 May 2017.
44. Jump up^ "St Helen's Heritage Project - Ashby de la Zouch". Heritage Lottery Fund. 2014.
Retrieved 5 November 2016.
45. ^ Jump up to: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,
15361595. 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 0-9547799-4-0.
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.

External links
 Wikimedia Commons has
media related to St Helen's
Church, Ashby-de-la-
Zouch.

Domesday summary and original entry

Images of St Helens Church, Ashby de la Zouch at English churches and ruined abbeys
website
St Helen's Ashby
St Helen's Choir