Stiill with my Moorsbus exploration last Sunday, and here I was passing the impressive tower of the Church of All Saints in Helmsley.
Helmsley is a busy small town, popular with tourists, but it has a long and impressive history, as does it's church.
There has been a church in Helmsley since before the Norman conquest (1066AD), and the churchyard was used as a market place in Anglo-Saxon times Another measure of the church's antiquity is the hogback gravestone (Viking) in the porch. A church was recorded in the Domesday Book in 1086.
There was much rebuilding in the 19th century, between 1866 and 1869 funded by the Earl of Feversham by the architects Banks and Barry and the contractors Barton and Smith of Helmsley, at a cost of £16,000 (equivalent to £1.5 million today) Many changes were made in the rebuilding, and Norman and later features were lost, including the font, which was replaced in 1868; the original medieval font now being in the church at Pockley. However, the church gained some fine stained glass by Hardman & Co. of Birmingham.
There are also some impressive Victorian wall paintings inside the church.
Sorry, another later than usual post since I've just got back from another Moorsbus trip!
Very impressive church. It's difficult to criticise Victorian refurbishment efforts without sounding petulant or mean-spirited, but sometimes you wish they would have just had a lighter touch.
Thak you all for your lovely comments and favs, they are very much appreciated.
In the Victorian period, many new churches were built and old churches restored, resulting in many fine landmark buildings, but I have to agree with Peter H ( @peadar ) that in many cases a lighter touch would have saved much of historical interest, but we gained much through the work of the Victorians as well.
Ian
July 12th, 2021
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Sorry for you England lost the penalty series.
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Thak you all for your lovely comments and favs, they are very much appreciated.
In the Victorian period, many new churches were built and old churches restored, resulting in many fine landmark buildings, but I have to agree with Peter H ( @peadar ) that in many cases a lighter touch would have saved much of historical interest, but we gained much through the work of the Victorians as well.
Ian