Festival of Archaeology Guided Tours
Church Tour - Saturday 13th July at 2 pm
An opportunity to explore this Grade 1 listed 15th Century church with our experienced tour guides and learn more about its history and some of its people. St Helen's has close connections to royalty and to the early Puritan movement in England. We also have a unique 15th Century sundial on the south face of our church tower.
In 2012 an archaeological dig on the site where our Community Heritage Centre now stands revealed important new information about our site. Trent & Peak Archaeology found the remains of a medieval vicarage, a causeway to the town's original Grammar School (founded in 1557) and the remains of trenches dug by Civil War soldiers protecting the Castle. A display board in the Heritage Centre describes the dig in detail and important finds are on display, along with interpretive murals.
The church contains many important memorials and artefacts. No other church in England has a pilgrim memorial and we know of only one other finger pillory in England.
Interested? Intrigued? Come along and learn more.
Free tour but donations welcome.
No need to book. Meet outside our Community Heritage Centre (opposite the church) at 2 pm.
Churchyard Tour - Monday 15th July at 2 pm
A brand new tour, not to be missed.
Our churchyard is an ancient burial place. The earliest church built here was Anglo-Saxon, so the churchyard is probably at least 1,000 years old and may contain as many as 10,000 burials. For centuries, it was the only burial place in Ashby, so it accommodated everyone, whatever their faith. In the 1850s it was declared full and was closed to all but burials in existing family plots which still had space.
There have been a few more recent burials by special arrangement - a longstanding 19th century vicar and a member of the Hastings family are among these.
Hear about some of the Ashby personalities of centuries gone by who are buried here. Learn from the grim report of the Board of Health in 1849. Listen to the tale of the bodysnatchers. Find out when the gravestones were laid flat - and why.
We'll also be looking at the exterior of our church building and the clues it gives us about the past.
Free tour, but donations welcome.
No need to book. Meet outside our Community Heritage Centre (opposite the church) at 2 pm.