Church ruins gained listed status after century of neglect

This week, in his continuing series, Ion Castro takes another look at St Helen's Church ruins, believed to be one of the oldest surviving buildings in Hastings.

He writes. The old church of St Helen in Ore lies just off The Ridge to the west of Elphinstone Road in an ‘Archaeologically Sensitive Area’ and a designated Conservation Area.

This old church and Hastings Castle are the only structures in the town from the 1066 period.

The ruins have features dating from the 11th to 14th centuries with subsequent alterations and the dedication to St. Helen and a nearby holy well are typically Saxon but, by the mid nineteenth century the church was declared unsound and, as the building was closely surrounded by graves, rebuilding would disturb the graves so the last service was held in the old parish Church of Ore on Sunday 6 June 1869.

The memorial corner-stone for the new St Helens Church was laid on Wednesday 30 June 1869 on a fresh site adjoining the main road about a quarter of a mile distant and the ancient parish church of St. Helen Ore, became ruinous, because much of it was pulled down to provide fabric for the new church.

Eventually, after more than a century of neglect and deterioration, the ruins of this Grade II listed building and scheduled monument were finally conserved and restored in 2012 and are now open to the public at all times with access to the top of the tower via its new internal staircase during open days and other special occasions.

Ion Castro visited and photographed the neglected site on several occasions after the millennium and before the restoration and all the 21st century pictures are his.

All illustrations throughout this series are from Ion Castro’s own collection and he can make available copies of many of the historic images used in this series. There’s more local history on Ion’s website, www.historichastings.co.uk.

Captions:

Harper, Hastings Road.

The ancient tiny window in the north wall is not depicted in any of the drawings of the old church. It must have been blocked up and plastered over on the outside, but on the inside it was obviously visible, for it is mentioned as a feature of interest in “Ross’s Hastings and St. Leonards Guide “ in the editions of 1849 onwards. It was opened up some time between 1859 and 1906, when it is clearly shown in a drawing in “The Hastings Road,” (1906) by Charles G. Harper (1863–1943) the English author and illustrator who wrote a number of self-illustrated travel books, that explored the regions, roads, coastlines, and historical and literary connections of Britain.

Inside the tower, 28-2-05.

Photographed in February 2005, before restoration and looking northward. Vast amounts of pigeon guano were removed from the stairway and flat surfaces during restoration and now a purpose-built modern fire-escape type staircase gives access to the top of the tower and its amazing views.

Old St.Helens Ruins at Ore.

Dating from the end of the 19th century the image depicts the original siting of tall upright memorial ‘slabs’. Their subsequent fate is unknown. Notice the invasive ivy that is now covering the north wall.

Ore Ancient Parish Church,