Old St. Helen’s Church
Religious Place Longhorsley Northumberland

Old St. Helen’s Church

Religious Place In Longhorsley, Northumberland

A ruined 18th century church currently being transformed by the local residents into another place for calm and reflection.

Hidden on the outskirts of Longhorsley village is the ruined Old St. Helen's Church. We spied this from the road poking through the trees and obviously went over to investigate.

This former parish church was in a bit of a sorry state with no roof and slowly being taken over by nature with ivy growing over the walls and weeds carpeting the interior.

The church itself was rebuilt on the foundations of an older church in 1783 which was in turn built on the grounds of a medieval building. It continued to be used as a church until 1966 when a school within the village was converted to a church and the porch of this church was transported and rebuilt on the new church in 1981.

If you have a wander around the grounds you will see plenty of headstones dated way back to the early part of the 18th century. There is also a modern graveyard out front which is still in use.

When we initially visited in August 2021 we bumped into a lady who was doing a bit of weeding and she explained to us that the villagers were coming together to spruce up the church to make it into something they could still enjoy.

We then spoke to another lovely lady called Penny who was heading up the project and she elucidated their plans, with council permission, of clearing weeds inside the church to create wildflower areas, adding two benches for rest and reflection and also information boards. They have also managed to obtain some funding from the Wingates Wind Farm Community Benefit Fund for the improvements.

We funnily then bumped into Penny in January 2022 by chance as we were taking more photos and she also mentioned the volunteers are hoping to complete the project in March and April 2022.

We're looking forward to visiting again when it's all complete.

There is loads more history of the church on the Longhorsley Local History Society website if you fancy it.

And here are some of our photos from our first visit back in August 2021 to show you the difference.

As usual we did a little fly over from Red5 Drone.

Check out these amazing photographs from our Fabulous North friend Tim Watkinson.

Let's finish off with a little walking tour from our own team contributer Ashley Lightfoot.

  Add To Bucket List   I Have Visited This Place

Get 2 points if you have visited this place. Already visited by 21 VIPs.

Login to the VIP area to add places to your bucket list, mark them as visited and more importantly see where you rank on the league table.

How To Find Old St. Helen’s Church

Where Is Old St. Helen’s Church?

Show Place On Google Maps

Lat / Long

55.243222, -1.75882

What three words

clues.respected.irritated

Where To Park For Old St. Helen’s Church?

Show Parking On Google Maps

Lat / Long

55.245567, 55.245567

What three words

robe.ombudsman.risk

Park in the Shoulder Of Mutton pub car park, but be sure to get yourself a refreshment afterwards.

Contributed by Simon Hawkins

Thanks for checking out this place on the Fabulous North! I do enjoy a wander out in to the countryside trying to find hidden gems that not many people know about. You can't beat a rogue pele tower up a remote hill, a mysterious stone circle or a stunning waterfall secluded in a forest.

More Places from Simon
Simon Hawkins

More Places In Longhorsley

Find more fabulous places in Longhorsley, Northumberland and if you know of a place we haven't listed, then let us know.

More Religious Places

So this religious place wasn't enough and you want more? Don't worry we have you covered.

St Aidans Church Fourstones
St Aidans Church Fourstones
Religious Place Hexham Northumberland

A small wooden "off the peg" church in Fourstones, Northumberland. One of only two wooden Victorian missions in the country.

Biddlestone Chapel
Biddlestone Chapel
Religious Place Alwinton Northumberland

A redundant Roman Catholic chapel in Biddlestone set in a picturesque copse.

Whithorn Priory
Whithorn Priory
Religious Place Newton Stewart Scotland

Ruined priory built in the 1100s, said to be home of one of Scotland's first Cristian communities.

Never Miss A Fabulous Place

If you are afraid of missing out on all the fabulous places we post, or just want to be the first to know, then sign up to the Fabulous North.

Each week we will email you all the brand new places that we visit.

Sign Up To Alerts
Sign up to newsletter
Fabulous North On Facebook

Find Us On Facebook

We post all our new places daily on our Facebook Groups page, so join the group today and be notified when we add a new place.

Join Our Facebook Group

Old St. Helen’s Church was listed in Religious Place // Northumberland // Longhorsley