St. Helen, Gumley, Leicestershire

Description

The church of St. Helen, surrounded by high trees, is an ancient building of stone in the Early English and Decorated styles, consisting of chancel, nave, south aisle, south porch and a western tower with octagonal spire, containing 3 bells, rehung in 1898: the stained east window, together with a brass underneath it, form a memorial erected to Robert Bingley, rector 1562-1601; James Bingley, rector 1601-1643; Samuel Pendock, rector, 1715-55, d. 20 Jan. 1755, and other members of the Bingley and Pendock families from 1751 to 1876: on either side of this window is a niche containing the figure of an angel: the stained west window, given by the Rev. Andrew Matthews M.A. rector, and Thomas Charles Douglas Whitmore esq. 1 Dec. 1875, commemorates the restoration of the church, and underneath is a brass with inscription: in the south aisle is a marble tablet with an inscription to John Norton, d. 2 Dec. 1701, and Barbara, his wife, d. 13 Jan. 1705: there are mural tablets to Andrew and Elizabeth Horton; dated 1721, and one to the Rev. Richard Wynne M.A. 33 years rector, dated 1788: a handsome carved oak screen divides the chancel from the nave: the stalls are of oak: in the south aisle is a piscina: a new pulpit was presented in 1898: the church was thoroughly repaired in 1875-6, at a cost of £2,000, and has 140 sittings.

Church Records

The parish register of baptisms dates from 1698, marriages 1704, and burials, 1700.