Saints in Scottish Place-Names
Funded by a Leverhulme Trust Project Grant
St Helens, settlement, Selkirk
Grid reference
NT 487 302 (accurate position)
Six-figure easting & northing
348700 630200
Latitude
55.5627722103392
Longitude
-2.813469427695871
Altitude (metres)
170
County
Selkirkshire
Nearby places
Selkirk (Abbatis), parish (1.58 miles)
Ladylands, settlement, Selkirk (1.61 miles)
St Mungo's Well, Selkirk (1.67 miles)
Selkirk Regis, former parish, Selkirk (1.72 miles)
St Helen's Loch, Selkirk (2.16 miles)
Object Classification
Settlement
Is linear feature?
No
Notes
There is a well marked at the settlement on OS 6" 1st edn; the "ruins of " Lindean Church / burial ground, lie just to the NW of the settlement (though now in Galashiels; see ScotlandsPlaces entry for this for view that Kindean was original site of Selkirk Abbey). Either could relate to the commemoration. No map before 1863 (date of this sheet of OS 6" 1st edn) has St Helens as name of this farm; instead called Batts (right up to 1850s), cf. the Batts Burn which marks eastern boundary. However, a 'Lacus Sancte Elene' appears in a charter of 1508, being granted along with Philiphaugh (Phillophauch) Selkirk and common pasture in Selkirk Common (in cumuni de Selkirk), suggesting that there was indeed hagiotoponymic reference to St Helen in the parish, though it is not certain that the Lacus Sancte Elene lay close to OS St Helens. No lake is in the immediate vicinity of St Helens today, though their common reference to St Helen may reflect the fact that they were either close to each other or shared some tenurial contact, and an un-named loch shown on Ainslie's map of Selkirkshire (1773), east of the burgh of Selkirk, and south of 'Shaws'. Its waters flow north on Ainslie's map, suggesting that the hollow shown on OS maps at NO5029 is the location of the loch. The burn flowing from this hollow today flows north-west, and flows close to St Helens. If Sanct-Helenis-schaw is the 'shaw' ['coppice, thicket'] which is referred to by Shawmount, which is on a hill overlooking St Helens, then it is likely that St Helens and Sanct-Helenis-schaw are indeed the same place.
Relationships with other parishes
Within Selkirk (Abbatis), parish
Relationships with other places
Adjacent St Helen's Loch, Selkirk
Names
1 head-name linked to this place ?St Helens
Head name
St Helens
Place
St Helens, settlement, Selkirk
Certainty that this name applies to this place
Certain
The status of this name is
Current
Is this a current OS form? ?
Yes
Is this the original referent of the place?
Maybe
Is the association of this name to this object hypothetical?
No
Sanct-Helenis-schaw 1528, RMS
Historic formSanct-Helenis-schaw Head nameSt Helens PlaceSt Helens, settlement, Selkirk Certainty that this name applies to this placeProbable SourceRMS, iii no. 645 Date of citation1528 x 1528 Notes on the context of this place-nameReprinted 1984 |
Source code
RMS
Source title
Registrum Magni Sigilli (Register of the Great Seal)
Editors
J.M.Thomson et al.
Volume
1-11
Year
1882-1914
Notes
Reprinted 1984
St Helens 1843, OS 6 inch first edn.
Historic formSt Helens Head nameSt Helens PlaceSt Helens, settlement, Selkirk Certainty that this name applies to this placeCertain SourceOS 6 inch first edn. Date of citation1843 x 1882 Notes on the context of this place-nameMid to late 19th c. |
Source code
OS 6 inch first edn.
Source title
Ordnance Survey 6 Inch to the Mile, First Edition
Notes
Mid to late 19th c.
Saints in this place-name
Helen (ns) (probable)
Helen, mother of Constantine (probable)