St Helens Church, Longhorsley, Oct 2011

History

The Norman church, now in ruins although the churchyard is still in use, is half a mile south of Longhorsley village and possibly replaced a wooden Saxon building. The earliest record of a vicar here is from 1299. In 1783 the church was entirely rebuilt on the old foundations. It was a plain structure, the main feature being an attractive trefoil chancel arch. Lack of facilities and the need for extensive renovation made it necessary to abandon it in 1966.


(St Helens c1920)

Present day:













all that remains of the font...


strange carving...




Thanks for looking :thumb

The full gallery is here http://photobucket.com/sthelenschurch

Great pics!

There is something so sad in seeing a church left to ruin, nobody taking care of the grave sites

I agree and it won't belong befor the stonework starts to crumble and fall.

Lovely old church...very atmospheric and looks like a great place for a wander. Nice find.

Thanks guys! It was a lovely little place, the A697 runs past within about 1/4 mile, you can see traffic as plain as day, but cant hear it, not a sound, not even birds... its a very strange feeling!

I took pictures of this place years ago for a school art project i was doing and its changed quite a bit, a lot more overgrown, more flattened headstones... ill have to try and hunt them out and post them for a comparison.