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Summary

Medieval parish church with earlier origins

Monument Types

• CHURCH (Late Saxon to Medieval - 870 AD to 1500 AD)

Associated Events

• Watching brief at St Helen's Church, Wheathampstead, 2004 (Ref: 316)
• Monitoring at St Helen's Church, Wheathampstead, 2014 (Ref: HN1123)

Protected Status

• Area of Archaeological Significance 5
• Listed Building (I) 14/428

Full description

The church, in its large churchyard, has nave with aisles and porches, chancel as long as the nave, central tower and transepts <1>. During the restoration c.1865 (supervised by E Browning) the rector, Canon Davys, noted beneath the 13th century chancel the rubble foundations of an earlier apsidal east end and that the chancel north wall stood on the original line, but the south wall was south of the original <2, 3>.
The date and form of the smaller, apsidal church are unresolved problems. It may have already had the transepts; Davys considered that the 'rough doorway' at the far end of the S transept was as old as the apsidal church, and that the tower built by rector John de Leycester c.1290 replaced an earlier one. Davys also noted the absence of apsidal chapels in the east walls of both transepts, although there had been a shrine in the south transept. The apsidal church may be 11th century but it is uncertain if it predated the conquest <6>; late Saxon burials have been excavated against the nave north exterior wall [9730] <5>. Fragments of chancel stalls were found during the restoration and used as guidelines for the new work, which used fittings from the chapel at Lamers [9519], taken out by Sir Benet Garrard in the mid 18th century <4>.
Observations in 2004, outside the vestry wall at the NE corner, revealed the flint and mortar foundation <7>. Work on heating ducts at the tower crossing in 2014 revealed a brick vault which appeared to extend into the chancel, as well as bedding for modern flooring; and a gas main trench through the NE part of the churchyard exposed unstratified finds in cemetery soil, including disarticulated human bone, post-medieval brick and tile fragments, post-medieval brown-glazed pottery, and a probably 17th century clay pipe bowl <8>.

Page, W (ed.), 1908, VCH Hertfordshire vol.2, - p309 (Bibliographic reference). SHT9314.

Taylor, H M, & Taylor, J, 1965, Anglo-Saxon architecture; vols 1 & 2 (Bibliographic reference). SHT2989.

Busby, J H, 1968, The Hertfordshire drawings of Thomas Fisher (1771?-1836); Hertfordshire Archaeology 1, 110-16, - p115 (Article in serial). SHT9371.

Busby, J H, 1970, The topographical notebooks of Edward Steele; Herts Archaeology 2, 105-8, Notes, early 18th century (Article in serial). SHT5615.

<1> Pevsner, N, & Cherry, B, 1977, Buildings of England: Hertfordshire (2nd edition), - p402-4 (Bibliographic reference). SHT7257.

<2> Canon Davys, 1885, Reredos in the north transept, Wheathampstead church; Trans St Albans Archit & Archaeol Soc, 31-33; 1888, 9-13 (Article in serial). SHT2959.

<3> Canon Davys, 1888, Wheathampstead; Trans St Albans Archit & Archaeol Soc, 9-13 (Article in serial). SHT1995.

<4> Canon Davys, 1889, Notes on the church of S. Helen, and ecclesiastical history of Wheathampstead; Trans St Albans Archit & Archaeol Soc, 12-22 (Article in serial). SHT2960.

<5> Saunders, C, & Havercroft, A B, 1980-2, Excavations at St Helen's Church, Wheathampstead; Herts Archaeology 8, 102-11 (Article in serial). SHT4524.

<6> Smith, Terence Paul, 1973, The Anglo-Saxon churches of Hertfordshire, - p34 (Bibliographic reference). SHT8399.

<7> Hillelson, David, 2005, St Helen's church, Wheathampstead: summary report, RNO 1613 (Report). SHT2886.

<8> Phillips, Daniel, 2014, St Helen's Church, Wheathampstead, Hertfordshire: monitoring report, RNO 3571 (Report). SHT17748.

Sources and further reading

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