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Helmsley Church Interior pre-1868
This is a sketch of the Helmsley church interior by James Agar; it is framed in a bevelled cardboard surround. The text given below has almost certainly been taken from a printed source, and pasted in position in two columns in the bottom border/surround.
| The sketch was made by James Agar who was tenant of the Black Swan, and is dated on the back "August 1859." It is taken from the North Transept looking across to the South Transept and shows the Chancel arch on the left. It gives a very good idea of what the interior was like before 1868. The old square wooden pews will be noticed, the best of them at the Restoration were taken out and stood above the outhouses of the Black Swan and forgotten. When the place was sold they were found by the purchaser and used for the panelling. The old "Two Decker" has the reading pew below and the pulpit above. It had a fine hexagonal sounding board. The date would be about 1700. The old Norman Arch is well shewn. The Chancel then was probably the same level as the rest of the Church. The wooden screen under the arch is mentioned in two old guide books. There is no other illustration of the window in the Chancel. It seems to have some stained glass in the tracery. The sketch gives a | good idea of the inside timbering of the old flat roof and was probably XVth work. In the North Transept for some reason only three of the corbels remained. A curious "tie-stone" is shown at the top right hand corner and re-appears above the two decker. The Sandwith Memorial on the left is now under the tower and the Ness Memorial on the right on the North wall of the North aisle. The opening to the north aisle must have been much narrower to allow it in the position shown. Above the arch was a second opening. The Transept arches were both quite plain. In the South Transept, where the Duncombe pews were, there is a blocked-up recess. This seems to go down to the ground and could hardly have been a window, possibly it was the entrance to an old chantry of which all trace has been lost. One of the old coats-of-arms is probably the one in the ringing chamber. Only four lights of the window are shown. |
Grateful thanks and acknowledgements to Rev Quentin Wilson for this information.