Helsington: St John

Name:
Helsington: St John
Record Type:
Church
Church code:
607209
Diocese:
Carlisle
Archdeaconry:
Westmorland & Furness
Parish:
Underbarrow with Helsington

Statutory Designation Information

Listed Building?
This is a Grade II Listed Building
View more information about this Listed Building on the National Heritage List for England web site
Scheduled Monument?
There is no Scheduled Monument within the curtilage or precinct

National Park

The church is in the following National Park: Lake District

Conservation Area

The church is not in a Conservation Area

Heritage At Risk Status

On Heritage At Risk Register?
This church is not on the Heritage at Risk Register
 

Approximate Date

Approximate Date:
Post Medieval

Exterior Image

Exterior image of 607209 Helsington St John
Caption:
Exterior image of 607209 Helsington St John
Description:
Photograph of the exterior of St John church Helsington taken 31 January 2007
Year / Date:
2007
Copyright:
Alexander P K app
Originator:
Alexander P Kapp

Summary Description

Shielded by trees bent and sculpted by wind, the elevated site high above the Lyth valley explains much: there can be few settings for worship as spectacular as this – perhaps historically a site of open-air worship, then this simple chapel with bellcote, a stone tabernacle. The original work of 1726 has been obscured by ‘restorations’ of 1898 and 1910, its weather-beaten render hiding clues to its past as well as struggling to keep out the relentless damp and mapping every crack of shift and settlement. The more recent kitchen extension still appears raw. Alongside, a former school, perhaps part of the original endowment. Inside, sheltered, the focus of this simple vessel is the east end and the legacy of the early C20: a crafted pulpit of inlaid chevron ebony and 4-square doweling (1908), communion rail, the unusual tooled leather floral panelled altar (c.1912), and the canvas mural on the east wall (1920), of watercolour subtleness and believed to personify local people immortalised as an angelic host in a heavenly landscape.

Visiting and Facilities

The church is open for worship.
Work in progress - can you help?
 

Church Website

Church Website:
Work in progress - can you help?

Sources and Further Information

Alexander P Kapp (2007) Exterior image of 607209 Helsington St John [Digital Archive/Graphic material]
Exterior image of 607209 Helsington St John
Alexander P Kapp (2007) Interior image of 607209 Helsington St John [Digital Archive/Graphic material]
Interior image of 607209 Helsington St John
CWGC (2016) Commonwealth War Graves Commission CWGC Unique File Reference Number: 1979 [Bibliography/Data]
Number of War Graves: 1
Church of England (2021) A Church Near You https://www.achurchnearyou.com/church/12366/ [Digital Archive/Index]
View information on worship and access at this church
Church Buildings Council (2019) Church Bells 1 Bell [Archive/Index]
1 Bell