Monument record 3965/2 - Medieval church/chapel of St Helen and cemetery, Glendon

The church or chapel of St Helen was first mentioned in 1254 and known to have been close to Glendon Hall but was let to a local farm in 1535 and ruinous by 1635. Medieval burials were found beneath the floor during the conversion of the coach house barns in 2005. A salvage excavation identified eleven burials, of which eight were excavated. Further probable burials have been noted within the footprint of the building and a Time Team excavation in 2005 identified further burials to the north, south and west indicating a substantial cemetery probably associated with the former church or chapel. Excavation also identified structural remians that may be associated with the church.

{1} Church or chapel dedicated to St Helen. Consists of a body and chancel. In the north window are six pieces of painting of scripture incidents with inscriptions; over each of the inscriptions is the date 1536. The church was valued in 1254 and in 1535 it was let out to a farm and after the suppression it appears to have been granted to lords of manor.

{2} In a visitation of 1635 the church is recorded as 'utterly decayed'.

{3} The Lane family may have carried out repairs in the 17th-early 18th century after the visitation since the church was still standing when Bridges visited in the 1720s. An estate map of 1861 {4} shows no buildings close to the hall apart from the stable block and it may have been demolished in the later 18th century when the gardens appear to have been landscaped.

In 2004, during the conversion of the coach house barns (built in 1862) human remains were found and a salvage excavation conducted. Eleven burials, all aligned east-west, were uncovered; eight were excavated and three left in situ as they lay below the level of groundworks. The burials were a mixture of sexes and ages. No pathology was noted. No burial goods were found and the position of the burials suggests that they were buried in coffins. Four sherds of St Neots Ware (c1000-1200AD) were recovered from the area of the burials.

{5} In 2005 archaeological evaluation was undertaken as part of a Time Team production in order to define the limits of the cemetery and identify the remains of the church. Trenches excavated around the outside of the Coach House managed to define the northern, western and eastern limits of the cemetery. Landscaping to the south is likely to have destroyed evidence for further burials in this direction and the same activity may have destroyed further burials to the west. A boundary ditch in a trench to the north of the Coach House may mark the northern limit of the cemetery. A total of 56 individuals have been identified [from the preceding excavations, further graves noted by the owner within the building footprint as well as the 2005 work]. Some structural evidence suggests a building once stood in a similar position to the Coach House- a possible foundation trench closely following the alignment of the current building and possible buttressing, though unlikely to be medieval, may pertain to repairs effected in the 17th century following the Church's complaint to the manor about the poor state of repair of the church.

<1> Bridges J., 1791, The History and Antiquities of Northamptonshire (Book). SNN100366.

<2> Northamptonshire Notes and Queries (Series 1), p. 79 (Series). SNN18722.

<3> Prentice, J., 2005, A Salvage Excavation at Glendon Coach House Barns, Glendon, Northamptonshire (Report). SNN105414.

<4> 1861, Glendon Estate Map (Map). SNN72737.

<5> MCKINLEY J.I., 2005, Glendon Hall, Kettering, Northamptonshire Assessment of the Results from the Archaeological Evaluation (Report). SNN105320.

<6> GSB Prospection, 2005, Glendon Northamptonshire Geophysical Survey Report (Report). SNN105321.

<7> Historic England, Undated, St Helens Church, Glendon, Rushton (destroyed), BF107402 (Archive). SNN113104.

Record last edited

May 11 2025 3:29PM