Church

St Helen, Marr

St Helen, Marr

St Helen’s is a Grade I parish church on Church Lane in Marr, near Doncaster, South Yorkshire, in the Diocese of Sheffield and the parish of Bilham.

Location
Marr, Yorkshire
Country
England
County
Yorkshire
City / town
Marr
Address
Church Lane, Marr, Yorkshire, DN5 7AU
Postcode
DN5 7AU
Built
12th-century origin; tower and remodelling 13th to early 14th century; porch, parapet and spire 15th century
Denomination
Church of England
Dedication
Helen
Diocese
Sheffield
Parish
Bilham
Grade
I
Style
Early English; Decorated; Perpendicular
Materials
Rubble limestone with stone slate roofs
Grid reference
SE 514 053
Opening hours
Please contact us to arrange a visit.
Access
Level access to the main areas. Accessible toilets nearby

Overview

Historic England records a church of twelfth-century origin. The west tower was added and the rest remodelled in the thirteenth to early fourteenth centuries; a south porch, tower parapet and spire were added in the fifteenth. The fabric is rubble limestone with stone slate roofs. The plan is a west tower, two-bay nave with south aisle and porch, and two-bay chancel. The tower has a chamfered plinth, quoins, lean-to overlaps on the lower stage, paired ogee-headed belfry openings, an embattled ashlar parapet with crocketed pinnacles and a recessed octagonal spire. The north nave wall retains herringbone masonry and a blocked square-headed doorway.

The Perpendicular south porch has an ashlar roof with transverse arches. Inside, a double-quadrant-moulded tower arch springs from cylindrical responds. The two-bay south arcade has a square pier with a broad quadrant mould and painted decoration on the eastern arch. Ogee-headed piscinas survive in chancel and aisle. The font has a broached square base, a shaft with attached columns and an octagonal bowl. There is an early pulpit with corner shafts and the initials C.B., Royal Arms of George II dated 1796, a brass to John Lewis (died 1579) and a seventeenth-century wall monument to Edward Lewys. Historic England’s Heritage at Risk register has recorded the church in poor condition, with failing roof coverings, rainwater goods, tracery and masonry.

Further Information