St Helena, Willoughby
St Helena, Willoughby
St Helena's (also listed as St Helen) is a Grade I parish church on Church Lane, Willoughby, Lincolnshire, in the Diocese of Lincoln and the Alford Group of Churches.
- Location
- Willoughby, Lincolnshire
- Country
- England
- County
- Lincolnshire
- City / town
- Willoughby
- Address
- Church Lane, Willoughby, Lincolnshire, LN13 9SU
- Postcode
- LN13 9SU
- Built
- Early C14; late C14–early C15; works of 1846 and 1880
- Architect
- James Fowler of Louth (1880)
- Denomination
- Church of England
- Dedication
- Helena
- Diocese
- Lincoln
- Parish
- The Alford Group
- Grade
- I
- Style
- Perpendicular
- Materials
- Squared coursed greenstone rubble, limestone ashlar, red brick patching; slate and lead roofs
- Grid reference
- TF 473 719
- Opening hours
- Open during daylight hours.
Overview
Historic England records a parish church of the early fourteenth century, with late-fourteenth to early-fifteenth-century work, alterations of 1846, and a restoration of 1880 by James Fowler of Louth. The fabric is squared coursed greenstone rubble and limestone ashlar with red-brick patching, under slate and lead roofs. The plan is a three-stage western tower, clerestoried nave, aisles, chancel and south porch. The tower has a fifteenth-century transomed belfry stage and a fourteenth-century three-light west window with flowing tracery; above it is a niche with a figure of a bishop. A medieval ladder, described by Pevsner as wonderfully primeval, rises inside the tower.
The Alford Group states that the interior was remodelled in 1880 by Fowler and that Captain John Smith, later president of the Virginia colony, was baptised here in 1580; a south window by the font depicts his life. Lincolnshire Heritage Explorer confirms the Grade I listing and Fowler's 1880 restoration. The church remains open in daylight hours for visitors.