St Helen, Escrick
St Helen, Escrick
St Helen is a Grade II* Gothic Revival parish church on York Road, Escrick, North Yorkshire, in the Diocese of York. It was designed by Francis Cranmer Penrose, paid for by Lord Wenlock and his family, and consecrated in 1857 as the third parish church in the village.
- Location
- Escrick, Yorkshire
- Country
- England
- County
- Yorkshire
- City / town
- Escrick
- Address
- St Helen, Main Street, Escrick, Yorkshire, YO19 6LE
- Postcode
- YO19 6LE
- Built
- 1857; restored 1923–25 after fire
- Consecrated
- 1857
- Architect
- Francis Cranmer Penrose; John Bilson (1923–25 restoration)
- Denomination
- Church of England
- Dedication
- Helen
- Diocese
- York
- Parish
- Escrick
- Grade
- II*
- Style
- Gothic Revival
- Grid reference
- SE 628 431
- Opening hours
- Open daily 9am to 4pm. Regular services take place on both Sunday and Thursday mornings.
- Access
- Level access to the main areas. Accessible toilets in church
Overview
Historic England and British Listed Buildings describe a large church with a five-stage north-east tower, two-bay apsidal chancel, an eight-sided west apse and a nave with north aisle. The interior has a pointed arcade on clustered piers, marble columns and a marble font supported by three putti. Monuments include an early fourteenth-century knight's effigy, work by Thorwaldsen and Fishers of York, a recumbent figure of Lady Wenlock by Count Gleichen, and a plaque by Eric Gill.
Parish and heritage accounts record that this is the second church on the present site: a medieval church near the manor was replaced in the 1780s by a building attributed to John Carr of York, then by Penrose's church a little to the east. A fire in 1923 gutted the Victorian building; Hull architect John Bilson restored it, reopening in 1925, and designed the east windows made by James Powell and Sons of Whitefriars.