This window showing St Helen is to be found in St Helens Church. All I know about St Helen was that she was the mother of the Emperer Constantine, the first Christian Emperer, and that she is reputed to have found the Holy Cross on a visit to the Holy Land on 14 September 326. Such a claim is difficult to verify, but I’m the trusting sort.

Much of old Abingdon now has her name. The house jutting out to the left in East St Helens Street is called Helensbourne. It is a 16th Century timber-framed house. Behind it you can see the tower of St Helens Church.

The tower and some of the outer walls date from the 13th Century. The Steeple itself is far more recent. It had to be rebuilt in 1886, but steeples do tend to be a bit more flimsey than towers.

St Helens Church was the town church as opposed to the Abbey’s. And within its walls met two Medieaval Guilds. One Guild called ‘The Fraternity of the Holy Cross’ is closely linked to St Helen because of the ‘Holy Cross’. The Fraternity met in that upper room which served them as an Exchequer or counting house. They must have brought in a lot of money because they built Abingdon Bridge, the causeway and an aisle or two in the church.

The entrance to the exchequer was from inside the church. The interior has changed many times but in the last year or so the alter table has been brought out into the middle of the congregation. Instead of everybody facing the front, there is now a sense of community at the communion table. I hope St Helen would approve.