About St Helen's

St Helen's Catholic Church

About St Helen's

Introduction: In the 1930's North Walsham store owner Frank Loads, who had maintained a Catholic chapel on the upper floor of his store from the late 19th century, made arrangements for the purchase of land and the building of two Catholic churches, one at North Walsham (the Church of the Sacred Heart, completed 1935 in the latest Art Deco style and affectionately known as 'The Odeon') and one at Hoveton. Land at Hoveton was not bought until 1958, some years after Mr Loads' death, and the new church erected the following year. But the story of the foundation of St Helen's goes further back still; the chronology is as follows:

c. 1884: An iron chapel (with an incongruous thatched roof) by Boulton and Paul of Norwich is erected by the Catholic Trafford family for their private use at Wroxham Hall. It is dedicated to St Michael and St Helena. Other local Catholics, and visitors to the Broads are permitted to attend Masses. Stories of the autocratic Squire and his Chapel still abound. The 'Priest's House', one of the few remaining buildings on the old Wroxham Hall site, sold for around Ł250,000 in 1999.

1954: The Traffords demolish Wroxham Hall and move to Broad House. The fittings from the Chapel are put into store pending the erection of a new church in the Hoveton/Wroxham area under the terms of the Loads Bequest. The old chapel is removed to Northampton for use as a Scout hut. The local Catholics are offered the newly built Hoveton Village Hall as a temporary place of worship, and remain there for four years.

1957/58: Land previously belonging to the prominent Bullard family of brewers on what is now Horning Road West, Hoveton, is purchased at auction with assistance from Harold Neave, a prominent local Catholic farmer, whose immediate family has become inextricably connected with the church ever since, providing sacristans, caretakers, the registrar, the organist, much of the St Helen's Guild Committee, flower arranging and cleaning rotas. At the auction the Catholic Diocese of Northampton narrowly beat the Methodists to secure this prime site in the middle of the village! The land was a former goat farm, and is marked on old OS maps as the 'Bird Sanctuary'. The Bullards planted many rare trees in the grounds and over thirty different kinds remain today, including what has been called the 'finest example of a Bird Cherry tree in Southern England'. The same year a 'mobile mission chapel' - St Christopher's - arrives on a lorry to serve the congregation until the new church is ready. One of the priests who served it was a newly ordained Fr. Cormac Murphy O'Connor - now the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster!

1959: The new church - St Helen's - is blessed and officially opened by Bishop Leo Parker of Northampton on May 3rd, the Feast of Exaltation of the Holy Cross (in the pre Vatican II Calendar). A happy date, as St Helen, daughter of the British King Coel (from Colchester - the original Old King Cole), who became the mother of the first Christian Roman Emperor, Constantine, is credited with the discovery of the True Cross during a pilgrimage to Jerusalem in her old age. Costing a mere Ł6000 and incorporating all the fine Victorian fittings from Wroxham Hall chapel (except the organ) the new church is based on a standard design by Northampton Diocesan Architect William Hastings and built by Norwich firm W L Lusher and Sons. Identical churches, differing in minor details only, may be found at Aylsham, Hunstanton and Halesworth. Rosemary Walmsley (nee Neave) is installed as the first sacristan - at the time she was believed to be one of only two female sacristans in the country, and needed special dispensation to go onto the altar and to handle the vessels used at Mass. Things have changed since then! Designated as an 'out-station', St Helen's was first served by priests from St John the Baptist (now the Catholic Cathedral) in Norwich, subsequently passing into the care of North Walsham, during which time an attempt was made to sell off the extensive and beautiful grounds for development - it was thwarted by a determined parishioner. Finally in 1970 St Helen's passed into the St George's parish group in Norwich.

1970: The upheaval caused by the Second Vatican Council leaves St Helen's fairly unscathed. The altar is pulled forward to allow the priest to celebrate Mass facing the people, but the Victorian fittings and the altar rails are retained after pressure from the congregation. (There has been stiff opposition to two subsequent attempts to reorder).

1973: At Christmas, music is used in the Liturgy at St Helen’s for the first time. Nick Walmsley installed as organist (at the age of 13), using a Cornish and Co. American Reed Organ dating from 1890 (now in the Sacristy of the Church).

1976: The Vatican creates the new Diocese of East Anglia; St John's Norwich is elevated to a Cathedral and St Helen's leaves the Diocese of Northampton.

1979: After five years of agitation by the youthful church organist a new pipe organ is installed, a replica 17th century instrument, and the first of its kind built in Britain. Partly funded by the Loads Foundation and from money raised by the congregation it costs Ł9,000: half as much again as the church itself cost 20 years before. Designed in Switzerland and built by the Newcastle firm of Church and Co., it is visited by organ aficianados from all over the country and is widely regarded, in the words of one expert, as 'the finest organ built in Europe this year'. From 1980 a series of concerts and recitals are held, attracting musicians of international calibre.

1984: Great celebrations for the Church's 25th anniversary. St Helen's Guild masterminds the building of brick and wrought iron Jubilee Gates to replace a collapsing wooden structure on the Horning Road, and long flowerbeds along the frontage greatly enhance the whole area. Bishop Alan Clarke celebrates the Jubilee Mass in May, exhibitions and concerts are held. A new patronal statue of St Helen and Constantine is designed by Nick Walmsley and carved by Oberammergau- trained Anton Wagner. Restoration work (also by Nick) commences on the 1884 Stations of the Cross and the Statues, during which it is discovered that the statue of the Immaculate Conception is much older than is previously thought - late 18th century. Anton Wagner believes the statue to be of South German origin. Subsequent research suggests it may have come to Wroxham Hall from the old Bavarian Embassy Chapel (Warwick Street) in London during alterations there in the early 1880's.

1986: St Helen's serves 92 villages in a triangular wedge of North-East Norfolk stretching from Norwich to Sea Palling and westwards to Caister. A growing congregation and a lively ecumenical social arm (St Helen's Guild) necessitates the building of a porch (more properly known as a narthex) that acts as an extension to the church and a small self-contained meeting room. The distinctive copper roof of the extension is quickly dubbed 'The Golden Temple' by local wits!

1987: The year of the 'Great Hurricane' when one gust of wind measured at RAF Coltishall at 102 mph felled scores of trees in the grounds at St Helen's. All the tall acacias growing close to the building were felled like matchsticks in all directions, but not one touched the church. Given the proximity of the trees, and the random way they fell, it was widely regarded by the parishioners as a miracle. The great Bird Cherry survived, but an attractive little walnut tree was uprooted only yards away from it and flung several feet by the gust. The gale gave rise to several working parties with the unfortunate soubriquet "Operation Brushwood" that were much enjoyed, and cleared much of the damaged areas to allow replanting with new specimen trees. St Helen's Guild operates a Tree Fund to maintain the grounds, and conservation of the flora and fauna of the grounds (now the only extensive area of wild woodland in the whole village) is an integral part of the church's affairs.

A unique 'Rosary Garden' was added to the church around this time to mark the Marian Year, providing a peaceful place for contemplation. Three rose beds, of ten roses each, colour-coded white, gold and red to represent the Joyful, Sorrowful and Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary. The idea was derived from a little-known Catholic novel ("The Rosary Gardens" by W.J.L Burns) but it is believed that St Helen's is the only church to actually have created a true Rosary Garden. Sadly, the author of the novel died shortly before the project was completed. On the other side of the church a consecrated Memorial Garden for the ashes of parishioners is created, beneath an Alpine Calvary made by master carpenter Alfred Larkins; several examples of his exquisite work, including a font, may be seen at St Helen's. The centrepiece of the Calvary is an ancient lead crucifix, rescued by a parishioner from Portobello Market.

1996: St Helen's has continued to forge strong links with the local community and besides the usual Masses, weddings and funerals, has been the centre of many concerts, theatrical presentations, fund-raising garden parties, lectures, ecumenical services and events involving the Anglican and United Reformed Churches. A successful 'twinning' has been carried out for several years with St Helen's Church at Ranworth to celebrate the two churches' joint Patronal Festival on 18th August. In 1996 this was extended to embrace the huge baroque Basilica of St Helen at Birkirkara on Malta, and gifts were exchanged between the Maltese congregation and their fellow Catholics in Hoveton, which are displayed in the respective churches. The church has been re-decorated, carpeted, and restoration of the Victorian fittings, and beautification of the church continues. Much of the work is carried out with money raised by St Helen's Guild, and the community is widely looked on as a 'model parish' largely able to run its everyday affairs without a resident priest. St Helen's becomes known as the 'rural sub-parish church' of St George's Parish rather than an 'out-station' or 'chapel of ease' (terms disliked by the congregation, who regard themselves as a 'community' or 'church' in their own right).

1999: 40th Anniversary Celebrations - The main commemoration is the replacement of the Sanctuary Window, with a suitable inscription, incorporating an engraved glass panel commemorating the Millenium. Parishioners were encouraged to give donations toward the window in memory of loved ones, and a Memorial Roll was inscribed and put up in the porch. Nick Walmsley bases his design on the Cross of Jerusalem, and the window is engraved by Michael Virden of North Walsham. Special events are held that year:

April 28th: 7.30pm. Concert by the Norwich City Concert Band.

May 1st/2nd: Anniversary Masses, Saturday 5pm and Sunday 9am.

May 4th: 7.30pm Meeting of St Helen's Guild included a short commemoration.

August 18th: Patronal Festival 7.30pm, with the Bishop of East Anglia, followed by reception in the grounds. This was the main event of the year.

September 17/18/19: Harvest Festival and 'Miniature' Flower Festival.

September 18th: 7.30pm. Gala Concert with St Mary's Choir, Wroxham.

November 3rd: 7.30pm Concert with Barton and District Choral Society including Vivaldi's Gloria and Faure's Requiem.

December 8th: 6.30pm. Festival of Lessons and Carols.

2000: St Helen's celebrates the Millenium in style with fireworks at midnight on Old Year's Night 1999, and becomes a signatory to the Local Ecumenical Covenant with the Anglican and United Reformed Churches in Hoveton, Wroxham and Belaugh, pledging to further the work of ecumenism in the area. In November, a lavish St Cecilia's Day Concert given by candlelight in period costume with music by Clarke, Purcell and Locke evokes the atmosphere of the 17th century Chapel Royal.

2001: A new Shrine in honour of "Our Lady of the Woodlands", paid for by a generous parishioner and a donation from the local TocH chapter (which had met at the Church and was disbanding), is erected in the copse to the north of the Church during the Spring. It is blessed by Fr. James Fyffe on the Feast of the Assumption (August 15th) - more fireworks and wine! In November Fr Philip Shryane, Parish Priest of St George's for 12 years, takes up a new post at Bury St Edmunds, and is succeeded by Fr Tony McSweeney. The second St Cecilia's Day Concert (again in costume and by candlelight) features the music of late 18th century composers, including the Catholic Thomas Arne and 'local lad' James Hook.

2002: St Helen's Guild celebrates its 20th Anniversary by restoring and replanting the Rosary Garden. A Portuguese tile picture (azulejo) depicting Our Lady of Fatima, obtained from the Azores and placed on the outside wall of the church above the seat in the Rosary Garden, is unveiled and blessed with due ceremony by Fr. John Drew following Sunday Mass on October 13th, 85 years to the day since Our Lady's final apparition at Fatima. In November, the St Cecilia's Day Concert celebrates Handel in period dress. Following Midnight Mass, an old tradition of vino and amaretti in the Sacristy for the altar boys and the 'workers' is revived - and heartily endorsed!

2004: New statue of Our Lady of Fatima installed in the Woodland Shrine. Following re-organisation at Diocesan level by new Bishop Rt Rev Michael Evans a new Parish is formed comprising the Sacred Heart at North Walsham, St John of the Cross at Aylsham and St Helen's. Full circle is achieved as St Helen's leaves St George's Parish on the significant date of September 29th (St Michael and All Angels) and returns to North Walsham!

2005: The community is told that, as part of the shortfall in numbers of priests, the two weekend Masses must be reduced to one. This means doubling the size of the church building and, with the help of a handsome bequest from the late Marshall Lusher and his wife, the community rises to the occasion as usual, forming a project group to implement this as quickly as possible. Studies are made of similar schemes in the Philippines, plans are submitted which meet with approval by the community ... and things begin to move towards a new chapter in our history.

Nick Walmsley (February 2005)

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