St Helen's Tricentenary Celebrations
Please click here for photographs of the Celebrations
2019 marked the three hundredth anniversary of the consecration of the new Church of St Helen that replaced the old Church on the Duver that had been washed away by the sea.
In the year 704 A.D., Bishop Wilfred (c.633 to 709) sailed to the Island and landed at Brading Haven. A few years later, his chaplain, Hildila, built a church, almost certainly of wood, on the Duver.
In the year 998, when Ethelred (the Unready) was King, the Danes gained complete mastery of the Island leaving a trail of destruction. It is probable that the wooden church of Hildila was burnt to the ground during this incursion.
Following the foundation of a Priory at St Helens in the late 11th or early 12th century, the monks built a new church of stone, which also served as their chapel, adding a tower during the reign of Henry III (1216 to 1272).
The church fell into a state of disrepair following the departure of the monks when alien monastic orders were suppressed during the reign of Henry V (1413 to 1422).
By the middle of the seventeenth century the buiding was in a state of almost complete ruin. With the exception of the tower, the church was eventually washed into the sea.
The tower was bricked up as a seamark in 1703 and remains to this day. In 1717 work began on building a new church further inland that was completed two years later and consecrated by Bishop Trelawney, Bishop of Winchester, on 27th June 1719.
In June 2019 we celebrated the 300th anniversary of that consecration.
MANY HANDS MAKE LIGHT WORKPlease come and help make the
300TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS
of St Helen's Church a huge success
(please make a note in your diary)
21 - 23 June 2019 Flower Festival
22 June 2019 Saturday Evening Concert
23 June 2019 Special morning celebratory service with the
Bishop of Portsmouth, followed by light refreshments
How can I help?
By offering help in advance so that we can plan the event well
What help is needed?
Setting up, flower-arranging, cake-making, donating a raffle prize,
adding your name to the rota for stewarding in the church, serving refreshments, helping with the raffle, cake stall and sales table
Please can we borrow?
Photos of church events/weddings etc, any artwork depicting our church,
a dressmaker's dummy / manikin
PLEASE CONTACT MARY ON 872326 IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO HELP
MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL
COME AND BE A PART OF ALL THE FUN!
Please click here to learn more about the History of St Helen's old and new churches.
Please click here to learn about our Tricentenary Appeal to raise funds so that our 18th century church can meet the 21st century needs of our parishioners.
