CHURCH
The minster church at Colne,
served by two priests and a deacon c. 1040, (fn. 62) was
presumably at Earls Colne. Aubrey de Vere
granted the church to Colne priory at its foun-
dation, and the priory appropriated the rectory
before 1254, retaining the advowson of the vicar-
age until the Dissolution, when it was granted
to the earl of Oxford. (fn. 63) The advowson descended
with Colne priory manor until c. 1886. The lords
presented regularly until 1786, except in 1610
when James I presented by lapse. (fn. 64) Thomas
Carwardine in 1786 and his son John Bryan in
1824, son-in-law and son of the lord of the
manor, were presented by men who were pre-
sumably acting as trustees. Samuel Blackall pre-
sented himself in 1867, as did David Methven
in 1889. By 1890 Methven had acquired the
advowson, which was exercised by his executors
in 1924 and 1926. (fn. 65) In 1936 the advowson passed
to the Diocesan Board of Patronage. The living
was held in plurality with White Colne from
1967 and with Colne Engaine from 1988; it was
united with Colne Engaine and White Colne in
1995. (fn. 66)
The vicarage was valued at 3 marks (£2) in
1254, the 'church' at £8 in 1291. (fn. 67) In 1355 the
vicarage was endowed with the small tithes of
the tenants' lands, and it was worth £8 10s. 8d.
in 1535. (fn. 68) In 1640 parishioners agreed to more
than double the vicar, Ralph Josselin's, income
to £80; in 1650 the glebe was worth £4 and the
tithe £24. (fn. 69) In 1674 Richard Harlakenden gave
to the vicarage the great tithes of about two
thirds of the parish. In 1835 the average net
income was £494. (fn. 70) The tithe was commuted in
1838 for a rent charge of £616 15s., but in 1850
the net income was only c. £400. By 1887 the
tithe rent charge had been reduced to £611 3s.
and fees averaged £17 12s. (fn. 71)
The glebe comprised 1 a. of grass c. 1 mile
from the vicarage house until 1841 when it was
exchanged for 4 a. of arable adjoining the vicar-
age garden. (fn. 72) The vicar was assigned a house in
the marketplace in 1355. (fn. 73) In 1637 it comprised
an open hall, a parlour, presumably with a
chamber above it, a kitchen, and other rooms or
outbuildings. (fn. 74) Vicars occupied the house for
most of the 18th century, and rebuilt or remod-
elled it before 1810 as a brick house with a tiled
roof. (fn. 75) During the incumbencies of Thomas
Carwardine (1786-1824), who lived at Colne
Priory, and Robert Watkinson (1830-67), who
lived at Colne Place, the house was occupied by
curates, and it was rebuilt by Samuel Blackall,
vicar 1867-89. (fn. 76) The house was sold in 1956 and
demolished in 1980; no. 95 High Street was
bought to replace it. (fn. 77)
Names of priests of Colne are known from
c. 1040, and the church seems to have been regu-
larly served in the Middle Ages, many vicars
staying 10 or more years, and one, William
Noble (1436-87), for over 50. (fn. 78) In 1306 the vicar
was imprisoned for a robbery committed in
Rivenhall; he was still in gaol and the parish in
the care of the rural dean in 1309. (fn. 79) Before 1317
he apparently sold the living to finance a pil-
grimage to the Holy Land. (fn. 80)
Maud, countess of Oxford, in 1366 beque-
athed 100s. to the town fraternity, perhaps a
guild like that recorded in 1543. (fn. 81) St. Mary's
altar was recorded in 1491 and a statue of St.
Michael in 1530. Geoffrey Buckwell in 1490 left
an alabaster reredos and carved wooden canopy
to the high altar, and devised the reversion of
his estate to found a chantry in the church. In
1530 a parishioner provided for a temporary
chantry. (fn. 82) Neither chantry was recorded again.
An obit endowed by Geoffrey Audley in 1503
seems to have been lost by 1548, but two other
obits, one for the vicar William Chappett (d.
1528), were suppressed that year. Before 1548
land had been given to pay for a bell to be rung
to announce the celebration of obits. (fn. 83)
The living was sequestered c. 1555 for the
previous incumbent's non-payment of first
fruits and tenths, but was restored to John
Petfield who held it until his death in 1572. (fn. 84)
William Adams (vicar 1575-c. 1609) was master
of the grammar school although he was alleged
to be unfit for learning or manners, and also
incumbent of White Colne. (fn. 85) His incumbency
was marked by discord, probably due partly to
the growth of puritanism in the parish. (fn. 86) In 1584
he was suspended; in 1587 and 1588 his
unlicensed curate was alleged to be a layman,
and there were doubts about the validity of
Adams's own ordination. Both Adams and the
curate were excommunicate in 1589. (fn. 87) In 1605
Adams was in dispute with Richard Har-
lakenden over his salary and other ecclesiastical
rights. That year the church lacked a proper
cup, a paten, a surplice, a bible, and a book of
homilies. (fn. 88) In 1607 Adams was accused of failing
to hold a service on Ascension day and on one
Sunday, and was forbidden to preach. In 1609,
1610, and 1611 parishioners disagreed with his
and his successor's doctrine. (fn. 89)
A Puritan lectureship was established in 1629
for Thomas Shepherd, who enjoyed the support
of most parishioners, including the Har-
lakendens; it ended on his expulsion by Bishop
(later Archbishop) Laud in 1631. (fn. 90) Another
Puritan, Samuel Stone curate of Stisted, lec-
tured in the church in 1630. (fn. 91)
John Hawksby, vicar by 1630, was accused in
1636 and 1637 of the Puritan practices of omit-
ting the sign of the cross in baptism and admin-
istering communion to those not kneeling, but
by 1637 the altar had been railed in in accord-
ance with Archbishop Laud's instructions.
Although old and weak, Hawksby retained the
living until his death in 1641. (fn. 92) That year a
weaver threw the church prayerbook into a
pond, then fished it out, cut it up, and burnt it. (fn. 93)
Hawksby's successor, Ralph Josselin (1641-83),
signed the Essex Testimony in 1648. (fn. 94) He
conformed, reluctantly, at the Restoration but
in 1663 the church had no surplice or service
book, and in 1664 the churchwardens com-
plained that there had been no communion ser-
vice for a year. (fn. 95) In 1684 Josselin's successor was
accused of administering communion only once
in six months and failing to read prayers on
holy days; the church needed, among other
things, a new communion table and furnishings
for it. (fn. 96)
The church was fairly well equipped in 1707
but needed a new prayer book, a carpet for the
communion table, a flagon, and an offertory
basin. (fn. 97) Thomas Barnard, the pluralist but resi-
dent vicar 1711-55, provided two services on
Sundays and communion four times a year with
the help of a curate. (fn. 98) That pattern of services
continued throughout the 18th century, al-
though in 1778 the vicar was not always able to
hold the second service despite the assistance
of a resident curate. The number of communi-
cants rose slightly from c. 30 in 1778 to 30-40
in 1810. Thomas Carwardine, vicar 1786-1824
and lord of the manor, served the church
himself. (fn. 99)
Robert Watkinson (1830-67), an active and
popular vicar, was responsible for the foun-
dation of church schools in 1843 and the
enlargement and restoration of the church in
1838 and 1862-4. He employed assistant cur-
ates. (fn. 1) In 1841 more than three quarters of the
population of the parish were reported to belong
to the church, and the number of communicants
had risen to 80-90. (fn. 2) Attendance on census
Sunday 1850 was 196 adults and 188 Sunday
school children in the morning and 332 adults
and 188 Sunday school children in the after-
noon, out of a population of 1,518. (fn. 3)
In 1937 it was alleged that the vicar, O. L.
Martin, the patron's son-in-law, who was also
rural dean, had neglected the parish and emptied
the church. A street was named after his popular
successor, H. Monks (1939-56). (fn. 4)
The church of ST ANDREW (fn. 5) comprises
chancel with north and south chapels, nave with
north and south aisles and south porch, and a
west tower. An earlier church was remodelled
or rebuilt in the 14th century when the surviving
chancel, south aisle and arcade, and the south
porch were built. The tower was added c. 1460;
in 1534 John de Vere, earl of Oxford, partly
rebuilt it, refacing the eastern side in brick. (fn. 6) /emph>
St. Mary's altar, recorded in 1490, may have
been in the south aisle. (fn. 7) In 1504 a parishioner
devised the reversion of his lands to build a lady
chapel, (fn. 8) but there is no evidence that the work
was carried out. The vestry recorded in 1596
was presumably on the north side of the chan-
cel. (fn. 9) Minor repairs were ordered or carried out
fairly regularly in the 16th century and the early
17th; (fn. 10) stained glass was removed in 1641. (fn. 11)
Carpenters and masons worked on the 'north
aisle' (presumably the north side of the nave) in
1724, and the nave was repewed and the steeple
re-leaded in 1726. (fn. 12) The nave was ceiled
between 1729 and 1747. The west gallery, built
by Maria Anna, widow of George Cressener, in
1725, was extended across the south aisle in
1835. (fn. 13)
In 1838 the church was enlarged by extending
the south aisle eastwards. It was restored
between 1862 and 1864 to plans by H. W. Hay-
ward of Colchester. A north aisle and chapel
were added to match those on the south, the
chancel was 'renewed', almost all the window
tracery was replaced, and the nave ceiling
removed. (fn. 14) The tower was repaired in 1882. (fn. 15) A
new belfry arch and screen were provided in
1890 from the proceeds of Cressener's charity. (fn. 16)
The tower was repaired in 1908 and 1970, and
the church was re-roofed in 1966. (fn. 17)
The church contains monuments to members
of the Harlakenden, Eldred, Wale, Carwardine,
and Cressener families, including an alabaster
wall monument with kneeling figures of Roger
Harlakenden (d. 1603) and his three wives. (fn. 18) A
pulpit bought c. 1609, had been replaced by
1746, and was replaced again in 1864. (fn. 19) The
plate includes an early 16th-century paten and
a late 16th-century chalice. (fn. 20) The six bells were
all cast by John Warner & Sons of London in
1869 to replace six of 1704 and 1705 by Henry
Pleasant. (fn. 21)
Lich gates at the entrances to the churchyard
were erected in 1912. (fn. 22)