Search

22 Oct 2025

Cash aid may ring in new future for St Helen's

Grant to help save Abbotsham's listed treasure

The exterior from the air of St Helen's Church at Abbtosham Pic Jonathan Rhind Architects

The exterior from the air of St Helen's Church at Abbtosham. Pic: Jonathan Rhind Architects

Hopes are rising that the bells will be able to ring again at Abbotsham's St Helen’s Church.

Deterioration of the tower at St Helen’s has been occurring for some time. With serious fractures to the masonry of the south and west walls, rainwater is penetrating the tower and causing substantial water damage to the church.

This is causing the bell tower to be flooded during periods of heavy rain, as well as rotting the supporting timbers and damaging the fabric of the church. It is featured on Historic England’s Heritage at Risk Register.

Abbotsham church South transept. Credit St Helen's PCC

The bell chamber is now structurally unsafe meaning that the church can no longer ring the church bells.

But help may be at hands for the much-loved North Devon church - it is to share in a £473,750 urgent funding pay-out from the National Churches Trust. 

The church will receive a £10,000 Wolfson Fabric Repair Grant from the Wolfson Foundation for urgent tower repairs.  

Securing the tower will enable the church to reinstate its bell ringing team and enable them to train up new bell ringers – a skill they are keen to promote and preserve.

The work to repair the tower needs to start soon – before the condition of the tower worsens.

Water damage to floorboards inside St Helen's Church Pic Jonathan Rhind Architects

Failure to make the tower safe again threatens the Grade II Listed building and could damage many of the architectural features within the church.

If the tower becomes unsafe the future of the entire church building will be compromised. This would probably mean the church could no longer be used as a place of worship and for other activities, which would be a devastating loss to the community.

Claire Walker, Chief Executive of the National Churches Trust, said: "I’m delighted that the National Churches Trust is able to support St Helen’s church to get funding for urgent tower repairs. This will safeguard unique local heritage and keep it open and in use for the benefit of local people.

“Whether seeking quiet reflection, access to community services or a place to worship, the National Churches Trust helps hundreds of churches each year and with the support of local people, keeps them thriving today and tomorrow.” 

Paul Ramsbottom, Chief Executive of the Wolfson Foundation said: "As well as being places of worship and buildings of beauty, churches sit at the heart of the community. In many ways they stand between the past and present. We are thrilled to continue our partnership with the National Churches Trust to support the preservation of these significant, much-loved historic buildings across the UK.” 

Martin Wilson, Churchwarden for St Helen’s, said: "This generous grant from the National Churches Trust and the Wolfson Trust is welcome news and will help to secure the long-term future of our beautiful church. The total cost of repairs to the tower is approximately £150,000, which is a huge sum for a small rural church to raise. The financial support of the National Churches Trust has been absolutely crucial to our project and means that our church can continue to fulfil its important role both as a place of worship and within the wider Abbotsham community.”

The funding will facilitate structural repairs to church tower and associated works. 

St Helen’s has a number of important architectural features. These include an impressive wagon roof dating from the 15th century. At the foot of each rafter is a carved wooden angel bearing a coloured shield. There is also a fine carved wooden reredos installed in 1921.

In the nave there are 39 pews with richly decorated bench ends each one depicting a different scene or emblem. Many of these date from the 16th century.

In the chancel there are two rows of elegant misericords. There is a beautiful carved Norman font near the entrance door. The church also boasts some handsome Victorian stained-glass windows. The bell tower contains a peal of six bells, one of which was cast in 1385 and is reputed to be the oldest in the county.

To continue reading this article,
please subscribe and support local journalism!


Subscribing will allow you access to all of our premium content and archived articles.

Subscribe

To continue reading this article for FREE,
please kindly register and/or log in.


Registration is absolutely 100% FREE and will help us personalise your experience on our sites. You can also sign up to our carefully curated newsletter(s) to keep up to date with your latest local news!

Register / Login

Buy the e-paper of the Donegal Democrat, Donegal People's Press, Donegal Post and Inish Times here for instant access to Donegal's premier news titles.

Keep up with the latest news from Donegal with our daily newsletter featuring the most important stories of the day delivered to your inbox every evening at 5pm.