St Helen

It was a private chapel to Denton Hall, a grand country estate set in the moors just a few miles from the historic spa town of Ilkley.

This elegant little church, built in the Georgian style in 1776, stands in a peaceful hamlet surrounded by parkland, near the Hall itself.

The colourful and painterly east window, known as the Musicians' Window, is signed by Giles of York and dated 1700; it was moved from the Hall when the chapel was built. The scene depicts St Cecilia, the patron saint of musicians and church music, playing the organ, surrounded by angels playing the lute, cornetto, violin, cello and trombone. Clearly, the chapel was intended to meet the aesthetic as well as the spiritual needs of its users.

There is other glass by William Peckitt, a leading Georgian glass painter and stained glass maker based in York, who did much to revive the medieval art of stained glass making and keep it alive during the 18th century.

There are also some examples from the famous Whitefriars Glass workshop, English makers of stained glass since 1680, when a small glassworks was established off Fleet Street in London. Armorial detail and fine inscriptions are also of interest.