The church was refurbished in about 1670 to create more space, but the large and increasing size of the congregation led to further work in 1829, and a major rebuild in 1878–80, including the widening of the nave by the addition of two outer aisles.

St Helen's Church has some ancient stained glass at the east end, and the Victorian windows on the nave and towers form a coherent narrative of the life of Jesus.

There is little documented history of Ashby-de-la-Zouch before the Norman Conquest, although Roman coins were found in the area, and the town's name has both Saxon and Danish elements.

In about 1144, Philip Beaumains, lord of the Manor of Ashby, granted the church, its lands and revenues to the Augustinian community of Lilleshall Abbey, which retained possession until 1538.

[3][4] A 2013 excavation found evidence of a two-storey vicarage dating from this period, but the building fell into disrepair following the Dissolution of the Monasteries and the site was cleared in the English Civil War of 1642–49.

[5] Parts of the current nave and chancel date from the 14th century,[6] but the church was rebuilt and enlarged by William Hastings in 1474, at the same time that he erected the tower of his nearby castle.

Edward VI's 1547 injunction decreed that all images in churches were to be dismantled or destroyed, including stained glass, shrines, roods, statues and bells,[7] and altars were to be replaced by wooden tables.

[10] An inspection report at the end of the 18th century commented on the dirty transept walls, and the need to install the equivalent of a cattle grid to keep pigs out of the churchyard.

[11] The increasing congregation led to the replacement of the pews and the construction of galleries down both sides of the building in 1829,[10] but a more extensive rebuilding was undertaken in 1878–80, by James Piers St Aubyn.

[12] Later developments included the expenditure of £13,000 (equivalent to £284,800 in 2023)[12] between 1963 and 1968 to combat deathwatch beetles found during rewiring, improvements to the heating system, and a rededication in 1974, the quincentenary of the church.

[14][18] The Chapel of St Michael and All Angels and the Lady Chapel are at the east end of the outer north and south aisles respectively,[19] and contain 20 of the 28 stone heads carved by Thomas Earp of Lambeth in 1878–1880, mostly depicting biblical characters such as Salome and John the Baptist, or historical figures like St Helen and Martin Luther.

The current eleven coloured glass windows on the north, west and south sides of the church were erected in 1879 by Lavers, Barraud and Westlake, each being named for its donor; the scenes depicted tell the Life of Christ from the Annunciation to the Last Supper.

[22][24] The Baroque wooden reredos of 1679, probably by local man Thomas Sabin, has been compared favourably with the work of Christopher Wren and Grinling Gibbons,[14] and the metal screen also made by an Ashby craftsman, John Staley,[22] is also of high quality.

They include the memorials of French-born wine merchant Jean Gaudin and the Litherland brothers, founders of Royal Crown Derby.

[35] From 1804, French prisoners of war were quartered in Ashby, and those who died before their release, or who stayed and married local women, are also buried in the churchyard.

[21][37] The advowson of St Helen's Church, including the right to nominate the vicar, was owned by Lilleshall Abbey until 1508, when it passed to the Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield.

[38] Henry Hastings, the third earl, was a zealous promoter of puritanism and founded Ashby Grammar School to provide education in accordance with his religious views.

Anthony Gilby had lived in exile in Geneva during the reign of Mary, but was invited to Ashby by the earl and made the town a nationally important centre for radical Protestantism.

The last of these was Arthur Hildersham, another influential figure who sought to internationalise radical Protestantism,[40] but became vulnerable to the strictures of his bishop after Henry Hastings died in 1595.

Hildersham was barred from preaching or deprived of his living for 17 of the 38 years of his incumbency,[10][41] Earl Henry was interred in St Helen's after a lavish funeral befitting his status as Lord President of the Council of the North.

[43] The church operates "Little Fishes", a mother and toddler group, and its street pastors work in outreach and liaison with the town community.

[46] The project's preparatory 2013 archaeological dig that discovered the vicarage ruins also unearthed the remains of a tithe barn, trenches from the Civil War and parts of a causeway, along with smaller domestic items.