St John the Evangelist
Helsington, Cumbria
Built in 1726, the church commands extensive views across the Lyth valley towards the distant Lakeland fells and Morecambe Bay.
Designed by William Coulthard of Lancaster, opened in 1828, it is a good example of a transition church between restrained classical Georgian architecture and full blown Gothic revival.
St John’s story is inextricably linked to the story of Levens Hall. Three local hamlets, Beathwaite Green, Cotes and Causeway End were in the Parish of Heversham. It is said that The Hon. Mary Howard, heiress of Levens Hall, had a disagreement with the vicar of Heversham and decided to endow and build a Chapel of Ease at Beathwaite Green. The slightly elevated site, spire and overall profile make this a distinctive church, more than a simple chapel of ease, it nevertheless (or perhaps to prove the point) asserts its presence. Opened in 1828, it was consecrated by John Bird, Bishop of Chester, in 1836. The dedication read ‘St John the Evangelist, Levens’, early indication of the use of this new name encompassing all three hamlets of Beathwaite Green, Cotes and Causeway End.
The Revd Sidney Swann (1912-14), made several changes to the interior, but the most significant occurred outside. The chapel having been built on a limestone scar offered insufficient soil depth for burials. His autobiography states:
‘I persuaded the Levens farmers to give me a boon carting day: they carried 200 cartloads of sand up… and soon the churchyard was green and ready for burials… but the difficulty was to get the first burial. A bribe of a sovereign, however got a corpse, and once there was a gravestone there, others soon came along, for it was no longer thought to be lonely’.
In 1920 Swann married Theodosia, widow of Captain Josceline Bagot of Levens Hall. The fine stained glass east window, by AK Nicholson, was given in memory of her late husband and son. The north and south stained glass is by N & S Abbot and Co Lancaster. Many of the oak furnishings, choir stalls and priests desks were donated by the Bagot family, the vicar’s desk bears the Bagot coat of arms.
The colourful vicar Reverend Sidney Swann (1862-1941) made some internal changes around 1913 and built the Japanese style framework which houses bells which came from St Thomas’ Milnthorpe.
The church has continued to be a lively Christian presence at the heart of its community. In January 2017, we received an Eco Church Gold Award.
