CHURCH.
The church building dates from the
12th century, and there was a chaplain at Colne
Engaine c. 1170. (fn. 6) The advowson belonged to
the lords of Colne Engaine manor from 1248 or
earlier, and in 1998 the governors of Christ's
Hospital were patrons of the rectory. (fn. 7) The lords
presented regularly, except in 1446 when Henry
VI presented. (fn. 8) From 1988 the church was held
in plurality with Earls Colne, and in 1995 the
benefices were united. (fn. 9)
In 1254 the church was valued at 15 marks
(£10) with an otherwise unrecorded vicarage
worth 3 marks (£2); the prior of St. Faith,
Horsham (Norf.) had two thirds of the tithes of
the Engaine demesne. (fn. 10) In 1291 the living was
worth £8 13s. 4d., and the prior's tithe had been
commuted for a pension of £2. (fn. 11) Horsham's
pension was in arrears in 1326; by c. 1530 it had
been reduced to 25s. and had been granted for
life to a layman. Payment was last recorded in
1544, when it was disputed. (fn. 12) The rectory was
valued at £13 16s. 8d. in 1535, the value of the
great tithe in 1329. (fn. 13) In 1650 the glebe brought
in £35 and the tithe £70. (fn. 14) In 1765 the living
was worth £200; by 1835 it was worth £700
gross, £680 net. (fn. 15) After some dispute, the tithes
were commuted in 1840 for a rent-charge of
£750 a year. (fn. 16) In 1851 the gross value of the
living was £835, which had apparently fallen
slightly by 1887. (fn. 17)
By 1610 most of the c. 47 a. of glebe, part of
which had been recorded in 1429, lay in a single
block near the rectory house. The same glebe
was described in 1810, but two small fields seem
to have been added before 1838 when 56 a. was
recorded. (fn. 18) In 1887 there was 57 a. of glebe. (fn. 19)
Forty acres was sold to Miss K. M. Courtauld
in 1921, and 7 a. was sold with the rectory house
in 1953. (fn. 20)
The parsonage house south of Boose's green
was first recorded in 1610. In 1723 it was unin-
habitable, but shortly after 1727 the rector re-
paired it for his own use. It was probably
repaired again c. 1790. (fn. 21) The house was almost
completely rebuilt in 1824 and 1825; further
repairs and remodelling were done in the later
1860s. (fn. 22) It was sold in 1953 and replaced by
No. 11 The Green, which was itself sold in
1988. (fn. 23)
The chaplain of Little Colne was accused of
arson in 1227. (fn. 24) Rectors were recorded from
1219. (fn. 25) In 1497 the rector, a monk of Colne
priory, was dispensed to hold a second benefice
or office. (fn. 26) A successor who resigned in 1524
reneged on a promise to make his benefice over
to the prior in return for a corrody. (fn. 27) The church
had an endowed guild in the early 16th century,
probably dedicated to St. Christopher, and statues of its patron, St. Andrew, and of the Virgin
Mary. Several parishioners endowed obits. (fn. 28)
Before 1552 a blue damask cope, a red vestment,
statues, four stained cloths, and 13 brass candlesticks were sold and part of the money spent on
a lectern and chained bible. (fn. 29) The pluralist
Christopher Greening, presented in 1524, held
the living throughout the Reformation, until
1563 or later. He was in debt in 1549, and the
living was sequestered c. 1550 for non-payment
of subsidies and tenths to the king. (fn. 30) John
Parkinson served from 1572 until his death in
1628, even though by 1625 he was very old and
weak. (fn. 31)
From 1629 until 1953 and again from 1962 to
1980 rectors were former pupils or masters of
Christ's Hospital. (fn. 32) Thomas Brackley (1629-53)
signed the Essex Testimony in 1648. His successor, John Clark, presented by Christ's Hospital in 1654, resigned or was ejected in 1662. (fn. 33)
In 1684 the church was fairly well equipped
although it needed some books, including a new
bible and prayer book. (fn. 34)
From 1690 or earlier rectors were required to
deposit a bond with the Hospital undertaking to
reside on the living and agreeing to resign it if
appointed to another. Nevertheless, Edmund
Massey (1719-65) lived in London in 1720 and
did not move to Colne Engaine until c. 1727. (fn. 35)
In 1723 his curate, who held two services on
Sundays and four communion services a year,
assured the bishop that the cure 'was never supplied more to the satisfaction of the parishioners.' (fn. 36) Massey, an eminent preacher,
served other churches even after he became resident. (fn. 37) In 1766 there were 16 communicants; by
1778 John Lovekin had apparently raised the
number to c. 50. (fn. 38) In 1782 Lovekin asked permission to leave the parish for his daughters'
education, and he was non-resident in 1788. (fn. 39)
He had returned by 1790 when there were only
c. 30 communicants, and no one would come to
a second sermon on Sundays. (fn. 40)
For much of the late 18th century and the
early 19th the living, the richest in the Hospital's
gift, was given to serving headmasters to provide
for their retirement. James Boyer (1793-1814),
headmaster until 1799, was in poor health by
1810. A. W. Trollope (1814-27) was headmaster
until 1826, and John Greenwood (1827-65)
until 1836. (fn. 41) In 1841 Greenwood claimed that
117 of the 133 families in the parish belonged
to the church, and that there were 37 communicants. By 1860 he had increased communion
services to one a month for up to 67 communicants. (fn. 42) Nathaniel Keymer (1870-9) suffered a
complete mental breakdown within months of
his appointment, and for the remainder of his
incumbency the church was served by a curate
whose high church practices apparently caused
concern. Keymer nevertheless had time to
initiate work on the restoration of the church.
In 1894 illness prevented H. T. Armfield (1879-
96) from serving the church properly. (fn. 43)
By 1602 a house and land west of the church
was assigned to the sexton. Part of it was given
as the site of the school in 1845, but the sexton
still held the rest in 1998. (fn. 44)
The church of ST. ANDREW
(fn. 45) comprises
chancel, nave with south porch, and west tower.
The 12th-century church presumably comprised nave, of which the rubble and Roman
brick walls with a blocked window and doorway
survive, and chancel. The chancel was rebuilt in
the 13th century, with lancet windows, one of
which survives, blocked, in the north wall. In
the 14th century the lower stages of the west
tower were built, and the nave and chancel
remodelled with new windows, and a crownpost roof in the nave. (fn. 46) A timberframed south
porch was added in the 15th century. The upper
stages of the tower were being built in brick in
1496, and shortly afterwards the south porch
was largely rebuilt in brick. (fn. 47) Thereafter the
church seems to have been well maintained, only
minor repairs being ordered in 1684 and 1707. (fn. 48)
The church was restored in 1873 under the
direction of Edward Swansborough. The floor
of the east end was raised by two steps, the east
wall underpinned and buttressed, and a vestry
built on the north side of the chancel. The chancel arch was rebuilt, ceilings in both have and
chancel were removed, almost all the window
tracery was replaced, and two new windows
were made in the north wall of the nave. A
gallery, built by 1837, (fn. 49) was removed, and the
tower arch opened up. All the furnishings were
replaced. (fn. 50) The tower was restored in 1928. (fn. 51)
On the south pier of the chancel arch is a brass
to Alice Hunt, widow, presumably of Thomas
Hunt (fl. 1525). (fn. 52) Five bells were recorded from
1684. Two were by Miles Gray (d. 1649) and
two by Miles Gray (d. 1686); the fifth was
replaced in 1760. A sixth bell was given by
J. J. D. Botterell in 1906. (fn. 53)
The small silver chalice recorded in 1684 had
presumably been lost by 1781 when the church
acquired another one. In 1789 M. R. Hills gave
a silver chalice and paten and two flagons, and
in 1902 J. J. D. Botterell a silvergilt chalice and
paten. (fn. 54)
The churchyard, c. 1 a. in 1810 and 1887, wasextended in 1935 with land given by Miss.K.M.Courtauld. The lich gate at its west end was
erected in 1897 to commemorate Queen
Victoria's diamond jubilee. (fn. 55)