St. Helens, the old Parish church of Eston, dates back to around 1100 and has had a varied and interesting past. In 1998, with the church having been disused for around 15 years it had been repeatedly burned out, partially demolished by local vandals and was in a very sorry state. The vestry had been stolen in its entirety for its stone.

Despite being a Grade II listed building, permission had been granted for its demolition until Beamish stepped in at the last moment to rescue the church for preservation. We carefully deconstructed it stone by stone for rebuild on the Museum site and work has recently begun on the reconstruction of the Church next to Pockerley Old Hall. You can see many photos of St Helen's and read more on the history of the church further down the page. And if you have any memories of St Helen's why not leave them in the comments box below - we'd love to hear from you! NEW - Click here to follow the progress of the reconstruction at Beamish.