Treasures from Worcestershire’s Past: ~37~ Plan of St Helen’s Church, 1636
- 8th August 2014
For this week’s Treasure Faye Sturgess, Archive Assistant, has chosen a plan of St Helen’s Church, Worcester dating from 1636 which was brought to our attention by a customer using our service. This item highlights how our users can bring collections to life for staff by giving us insights into their hidden gems. Here, Faye tells us more:
Treasures come in all shapes and sizes and this one example is no exception. Holding over 12 miles of archives it is impossible for staff to know what is held in each box, roll or file. Often it is when customers are viewing items in the Original Archive Area that we get the best opportunity to discover more about a deposit. It was on one such occasion that the following item was brought to my attention by a customer and we immediately thought it would be nice to share it on our treasures post.
1636 Plan of St Helen’s Church
A description of St. Helen’s can be found in the following publication:
Valentine Green, A Survey of the City of Worcester, (1764, p.224) which is available to view as part of the Local Reference section on Level 2 at L942.448WORC. Although of a later date than the plan, this written description ties in with the visual plan being ‘divided into three isles, by two rows of light well-built pillars’. The plan clearly depicts the pews and it is similarly easy to identify the pillars, the font and the altar.
St Helen’s has not always been used as a place of worship and part of its history saw the building being the former site of Worcestershire Record Office until 2001.
This item is available to view in the Original Archive Area at The Hive and can be found at: Ref: f850 Worcester St Andrew; BA: 4426; Parcel: 20
Comments are closed.