The Church of St Helen, Denton is a parish church in the hamlet of Denton, near

Otley Otley is a market town and civil parish at a bridging point on the River Wharfe, in the City of Leeds metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, the population was 13,668 at the 2011 c ...

, in

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in Northern England.The Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority areas of City of York, York and North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire are in Yorkshire and t ...

, England. The church was built in 1776 by the architect John Carr, who constructed it in the

Gothic style Gothic architecture is an architectural style that was prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century, during the High and Late Middle Ages, surviving into the 17th and 18th centuries in some areas. It evolved from Romanesque ar ...

, whereas he usually favoured the Classic style in his architecture. The church was built around a picture window taken from the chapel that it supplanted on the Denton Hall estate. The picture window still exists and is noted for being the only complete picture window by the artist

Henry Gyles Henry Gyles or Giles (1640?-1709), was an English glass painter based in York. Life He was the fifth child of E. (perhaps Edmund) Gyles, a glazier from York, and lived in Micklegate in the city. His entry in the first edition of the ''Dictionar ...

. A second piece of painted glass exists in the church, by the glass-painted

William Peckitt William Peckitt (1731 – 14 October 1795) was an English glass-painter and stained glass maker. He was based in York throughout his working life, was one of the leading Georgian glass craftsmen in England and helped "keep the art of glass painti ...

. Whilst the church it is not a

consecrated Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects (a ...

structure, services can take place there, and it is popular with people marrying due to its location close to a reception venue nearby.

History

The Church of St Helen was built in 1776 by John Carr of York in the Gothic style; an architectural style that Carr made little use of. It was specially built around a picture window taken from the old chapel-of-ease which, stood next to Denton Hall. The old chapel was last used in 1772 and demolished a few years later. The picture window, a type of stained glass where the image is painted onto the glass, was the work of the artist Henry Gyles, who painted it in 1700, as commissioned by the then Lord Fairfax.

Ralph Thoresby Ralph Thoresby (16 August 1658 – 16 October 1725) was an antiquarian, who was born in Leeds and is widely credited with being the first historian of that city. Besides being a merchant, he was a nonconformist, fellow of the Royal Society, dia ...

described it as "...the noblest painted glass in Northern England." The glass depicts

King David David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Damas ...

playing a harp,

Saint Cecilia Saint Cecilia (), also spelled Cecelia, was a Roman Christian virgin martyr, who is venerated in Catholic, Eastern Orthodox Church, Orthodox, Anglican Communion, Anglican, and some Lutheran churches, such as the Church of Sweden. She became the ...

and a choir. God is represented in a sunburst at the top of the window as a

tetragrammaton The TetragrammatonPronounced ; ; also known as the Tetragram. is the four-letter Hebrew-language theonym (transliteration, transliterated as YHWH or YHVH), the name of God in the Hebrew Bible. The four Hebrew letters, written and read from ...

. The painting is said to have been influenced by an engraving by Johannes Sadeler, and is thought to be the only glass painting of its size by Henry Gyles, anywhere in the world. A second piece of painted glass is next to the Gyles piece in the east window, which is decorated with flowers and fruits. The second glass was painted by William Peckitt. The church structure is constructed from locally quarried stone, and has a grey slate roof. There are no windows in the northern wall of the church, but recesses exist in the places where windows would normally be sited. The lych-gate leading into the churchyard was a later addition, and is constructed largely from timber with a slate roof. The nave is without aisles, and is in essence, one large open space. The tower is at the west and forms three stages described as "pediment dat the west end and rises to a cube shaped stage." The porch is a single storey edifice with double doors which face onto the south side. The church was dedicated to St Helen, the mother of

Constantine the Great Constantine I (27 February 27222 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was a Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337 and the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. He played a Constantine the Great and Christianity, pivotal ro ...

. St Helen was chosen because of her association with the "County of York"; her son spent at least a year in the area fighting the Picts. The church, and its predecessor chapel, were believed to have been constructed close to Denton Hall to allow the Fairfax and Ibbetson families to worship there instead of having to travel in to

. The churchyard contains several graves that pre-date the church's construction (such as the members of the

Fairfax family Members of the Fairfax Family were prominent as Australian media proprietors, especially in the area of newspaper publishing through the company John Fairfax and Sons (later known as Fairfax Media, although the Fairfax family no long ...

), having been moved there from the grounds of Denton Hall. Whilst religious services are able to be carried out at the church, it has not been consecrated. It remains popular with people getting married due to its location close to a popular wedding reception venue nearby. Despite the parish only having a weekly attendance of 27, they returned 22 weddings in 2016, 19 of which, were at Denton.

Memorials

*A memorial to Sir Charles Ibbetson ( Baron Rookwood) (1779–1839), was unveiled in 1842 by

Joseph Bentley Leyland Joseph Bentley Leyland (1811–1851) was a sculptor from Halifax, England. His brother was Francis A Leyland, the Halifax antiquarian and publisher, who designed the seal for Halifax Corporation and the coat of arms of Halifax. Joseph was a good ...

*A memorial commemorates nine members of the locality who died in the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Parish and benefice

The church was donated to

Diocese of Ripon The Diocese of Ripon (Diocese of Ripon and Leeds from 1999 until 2014) was a former Church of England diocese, part of the Province of York. Immediately prior to its dissolution, it covered an area in western and northern Yorkshire as well as ...

in 1867, becoming the parish church for the newly created ecclesiastical Parish of Denton. Before then, it acted as a chapel-of-ease for the area. By 1996, the parish of Denton had been subsumed into the parish of Weston, to become Weston with Denton. In 2008, the church was joined with those at

Fewston Fewston is a village and civil parish in the county of North Yorkshire, England. It is situated north of Otley and close to Swinsty and Fewston reservoirs. St Michael and St Lawrence's Church, Fewston mostly dates from 1697, although the t ...

Blubberhouses Blubberhouses is a small village and civil parish in the Washburn Valley in North Yorkshire, England. The population as at the 2011 Census was less than 100, so details were included in the civil parish of Fewston. In 2015, North Yorkshire Co ...

Leathley Leathley is a village and civil parish in the county of North Yorkshire, England, the parish includes the townships of both Castley and Leathley. It is near the border with West Yorkshire and the River Wharfe, 1 mile north-east of Otley. The B6 ...

and Farnley to become the United Benefice of Washburn and Mid-Wharfe in 2008. The church is now in the Diocese of Leeds.

References

Sources

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External links