Church of St Helen
Church of St Helen, York Road
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II*
- List Entry Number:
- 1167966
- Date first listed:
- 17-Nov-1966
- List Entry Name:
- Church of St Helen
- Statutory Address:
- Church of St Helen, York Road
Location
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Images of England Project
- Date:
- 2000-12-11
- Reference:
- IOE01/03292/01
- Rights:
- © Mr John Turner. Source: Historic England Archive
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Official list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II*
- List Entry Number:
- 1167966
- Date first listed:
- 17-Nov-1966
- List Entry Name:
- Church of St Helen
- Statutory Address 1:
- Church of St Helen, York Road
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
Location
- Statutory Address:
- Church of St Helen, York Road
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- District:
- North Yorkshire (Unitary Authority)
- Parish:
- Escrick
- National Grid Reference:
- SE 62805 43127
Details
This list entry was subject to a Minor Amendment on 27 April 2022 to remove superfluous amendment details and to reformat the text to current standards
SE 64 SW
2/34
ESCRICK
YORK ROAD (west side)
Church of St Helen
17.11.66
II *
Church. 1857 by F C Penrose for Rev and Hon Stephen Willoughby Lawley and the second Lord Wenlock with restorations of 1923 by John Bilson. Sandstone ashlar with plain tile roof. Gothic Revival style with Geometrical tracery throughout. Five-bay nave with north aisle and further single bay vestry, south porch, two-bay apsidal chancel, eight-sided apse to west end, five-stage north-east tower. South porch to first bay has three-quarter diagonal buttresses. Pointed entrance arch with band and three trefoil headed lights above. Battlements on band with gargoyles. Octagonal stair turret to rear with short spirelet.
Nave: plinth. South side: buttress with off-sets to angles. Three-light, pointed windows with continuous hoodmould. Corbel table with strapwork band. North aisle has buttresses with off-sets and two-light, straight-headed windows with hoodmoulds and continuous sill band. Three-light, pointed window to west end. Vestry has pointed plank priest's entrance to east end. Angle buttresses. Three-light window to north with quatrefoils to head. Battlements. West apse has three-quarter buttresses to angles, ogee-headed entrance with iron crypt door and six two-light, pointed windows with trefoils to heads on continuous sill band and under hoodmoulds. Gargoyles on band. Chancel recessed slightly and has buttresses with off-sets, a trefoil-headed niche to first bay and two-light pointed windows with trefoils to heads throughout. Embattled north east tower buttresses have angles surmounted by pinnacles, pointed east plank doorway in chamfered surround. Five-light arcade to third stage. Twin two-light bell openings to each side. Semi-circular stair turret adjoins chancel.
Interior: nave has pointed arcade on clustered piers. Pointed chancel arch and west apse arch. Inner roofed arcade on marble columns. Marble font supported by three putti.
Monuments in west apse: early C14 mutilated effigy of knight, wall monuments to Lady Jane Lawley d.1816 by Thorwaldsen; to Richard Thompson, d.1820 (unsigned); to Beilby Thompson, d.1799 by Fishers of York. In north aisle, to Lady Wenlock d.1868 by Count Gleichen with a recumbent figure; wall plaque to Beilby, 3rd Baron Wenlock by Eric Gill.
Pevsner N, Yorkshire, York and The East Riding, 1978, pp 223-4.
Listing NGR: SE6280543127
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 326290
- Legacy System:
- LBS
Sources
Books and journals
Pevsner, N, The Buildings of England: Yorkshire - York and the East Riding, (1972), 223-4
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 25-Jun-2026 at 17:30:45.
Download a full scale map (PDF)End of official list entry
All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.